Looking Backwards
To See Ahead
“Teshuvah at its best,
is about seeing how we missed the mark.”
The Velveteen Rabbi
I return to last year
turning it over, spreading it out
underlining places that felt
out of kilter, undone, put aside—
forgotten or altered
Oh those plans, those dissonant
conversations where words
needed clarity instead of
ambiguity, where thoughts were
left in silence. So now I return
to those places with resolve
I seek out some people
to ask their forgiveness
I remind myself to do more
than expend words on social ills
I know —prayers also need footsteps
Oh dear Lord
I tiptoed where I needed to walk boldly
On this birthday of the world
I give thanks for Your Creation—
its colors and shapes, sounds
as quiet as the humming bird’s wings
as noisy as waves crashing onto the shore
This is the time of Teshuvah,
the time to begin anew.
