~~~

Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.

Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice

~~~

Dedicated to all people who are
persecuted for their ethnicity


~~~
Therefore, Jew

know all ye men by their
presents
an invitation
to be seated in the imprisoning box,
resting upon and before imbalanced scales,
perforce, by force,
this low world court
of the blinded
and still, and yet,
a chamber filled
of honesty-depleted
unjust men,
courtier witnesses,
of hate repleted

expect only mean justice serviced
for in the course of justice,
none of us
should see salvation

the scales pre-set,
one side favoring,
by the "virtue" present
of the tipping lean of
finger-pointing, weighty, pointless,
consuming hatred

the world despises you, Jew

this sunrise surmise,
no surprise, routinized,
freshly delivered daily
to thine inbox's unsettling
junk mail

so,
inviable victims, you bookish people,
be well unforgiving,
for to fore,
the new day commences,
supplying fresher welts and taunts,
soured served upon a
cracked, blackened,
break-fast plate

no finale,
no solution,
to our rooted rutted hated fate

yes, ours,
for am I not too
numerically wrist-tatooed,
guilty for praising God and
seeking favor with all the people,
the Lord counts me in our numbers,
every day by day,
these present and souls past,
living mated with despotic hatred

be ever sophisticated,
cyanide cynical,
no news here, this too
shall pass,
parse a new year approaching,
and none the wiser

refrain from the pain,
cease to pine and whine,
de-rank from sniveling logicians
for all such propositions,
are
by silence answered

Hath not a Jew eyes?
Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses,
affections, passions;
fed with the same food,
hurt with the same weapons,
subject to the same diseases?
healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the
same wind?

but even the wind
turned against us,
for nothing is sacred,
even a deity's creation,
when men
raise up their children
to rise up
to hate

Therefore, Jew,*

seek no mercy
in the court of men;
thy salvation
and thy recompense
has forever been and will to be,
seak not to wash away
the surfeit return of the ilk of unwarranted hate

code nurture the silent
divine spark
within,
for that is the entirety
of your obligatory,
ancestor-inheritd gift,
this alone
you shall
warrant
and speak,
acting accordingly,
for this is the whole of
your plea

Time: 7:30 pm
Temp.: 68F

~~~
overlooking the runways,
festooned by
accidental heavenly whimsy,
or humanistic whimsical inten-sity,
all the the planes and trucks are flashing
electrifying speckles, of eclectically synced
red and green

it is not my holiday,
but no matter,
like every New Yorker this day,
I am happily celebrating its
double U,
unique, unusual

"record breaking warmth"

yes, the Fahrenheit is outtasight, and by the dawn of
early eve~night,
the Centigrade is spiraling in reverse retrograde,
as the temp eases on down, just below seventy degrees,
on this dewinterized twenty fourth day of
December, two nought and fifteen

traffic is light, the terminal, an unbusy, slim shadow of itself,
the maddening crowds gone, now all are among
the dearly departed and either/or, the newly arrived

so composition of the observational, brings cheer and smiles to my faith,
(I mean my face),
the crowning quietude of clear skies, the absence of street smart
city  bustle and hustle,
the languid atmosphere at the gates,
(where seldom is heard an encouraging word)#
makes me reconsider the true meaning of
the au courant phraseology of this day

"record breaking warmth"

for there is indeed
a calm invisible warmth suffusing all tonite,
chests glowing from fireplaces within,
contentment chamber containers in both hearth and heart,
and I am thinking
miracle,
about all the human warmth
on this celebrated evening,
holy night

indeed,
it is breaking records of
recorded human fusion,
the united commonality of millions warming
his and her stories world-over,
that your personal poet is
warming to record