I wear this dot on my head
because I exist in an ever-elapsing ellipsis
which began on the head of that mountain Sinai
when we heard Moses sigh n’ I cried ‘I will do and I will listen’
and we heard ‘Do this and Don’t do that’ and dot dot dot
when God’s voice trailed off
and we trailed through the desert
following Moses to that flawless land
flowing with milk and honey
and we’ve been crying and sighing ever since.
I wear this crown on my head with pride
for all the judges prophets scribes kings priests sages
the heads of my people
who presided over our promised land.
I wear this point on my head
because Moses pointed us in one direction
but we missed the point and headed in another.
We turned God into a game
and our temples fell when fellows fought
consecrating the template of our exile:
privilege, prosperity, persecution, expulsion.
I wear this point on my head
because my identity is indivisible,
I am a Jew — period.
And every period of our past contains trauma
and everywhere we rested our head was only temporary
until the temper of our enemies overflowed
and all that blood flowed from their bodies,
I am a Jew — period.
I wear this helmet on my head with fear
not for the King above, but for my neighbor,
for He remained above, staring,
as they kicked our severed heads in the streets.
No eagles flew us back, no man rode on a donkey.
We came with our plowshares,
the sabras begrudgingly beat them back into sabers.
