Tekiyah – Malchiyot
A single blast.
Not too long, A reasonable length.
Like a modest sovereign
They’ve entered the room and
it’s time to pay attention.
The party has started in our ears.
Dress appropriately.
This is our wake up call
for the year.
Shevarim – Zichronot
Three medium ones.
Broken notes.
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
We’re all crying
remembering whose feet
touched this ground before we
learned how to breathe.
May our names
be on the breath of
those yet to come.
Teruah – Shofarot
If three wasn’t enough
let these nine fill your pockets.
The sound itself is the thing.
Staccato – a word I had to look up.
They come quick and are
kissed by silence. It is the
silence between the notes
that tells you everything.
Tekiyah Gedolah
We wait for this one all year.
It goes as long as it goes.
As long as someone can exhale
it keeps going.
When we make it to the end
we have won. We will eat.
We will rest. We will work.
We will do a year’s worth of things
until we get to hear it
again.