Jewish Poetry

After every meal we are thankful that
we have drank, we have eaten, and we are sated.
(Sated is a real word, you can trust us on this.)

We do this after every meal.
But on Shabbat, when we are ignoring
the weepiness of the middle of the week

when everything stops so we can just be
we add in a song of going up. The words
they said when they walked up the

now excavated steps to the front door
of the ancient temple, where
all our Judaism used to go down.

We go up and are reminded that
amidst all our weeping, our difficulties,
are struggles to be who we are

amidst the buckets of tears that
flow out of our eyes remembering
the harsh words and the side-eyed glances –

that all of that water of sadness –
that heavy sadness we carry –
that is our capacity for joy.

So when you feel as down as you can be
remember, that’s exactly how up you can be.
Our sadness builds our strength.

Our sadness writes our songs of joy.
Our sadness is the empty canvas on which
we paint our world yet to come.

Let the tears flow. This is how we teach
our muscles to smile This is how we go up.
Let’s go up.