Fire is the New Rain – A poem for Parsha Noach (Aliyah 2)

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And the rain was upon the earth
for forty days and forty nights.

Replace rain with fire
and it’s almost like
it’s happening again.

From the very first day
of the Santa Ana winds
some part of the southland

has burned. No warning
came. No directive to
build an ark.

What kind of boat isn’t
flammable, anyway?
Or maybe I’m not

righteous enough to
receive the instructions.
While people with

infinite money flee their
acreages. While schools
shut down because

they’re concerned about
breathing. While pillars
of smoke, visible by

anyone with eyes
reminds us we may have
screwed this whole thing up.

I’m holding my wife
and son and cats close
pleading for another chance.

We need the sky to
open up and wash
all of this away.

These poems are offered free for your enjoyment. If you use them as part of an event, meeting, educational or liturgical setting, please consider tipping the author.

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