The Talmud Teaches...
With respect to his son, a father is obligated to circumcise him, to redeem him [if he is a firstborn], to teach him Torah, to marry him off, and to teach him a craft...he is also

obligated to teach him to swim...(Kiddushin 29a)


lay awake when the house is silent,
doing maths furiously in the head,
sleeping can be keeping while doing my calculus,
knowing in advance a conclusion comes coined
in only two colors, black or red

the question simple, did I meet my obligations?

and your read the passage for the umpteenth time,
and the same thought interferes as always,
should the order not be reversed,
the first thing to be fulfilled,

teach them to swim

based on experience life arrives in sequential, repeating waves,
purposed to drown the weak with no pretending that waters,
salt or sweet matters, so first order is business ought be survival preparation and

teach them to swim

if they can swim, stay afloat, then they can then comprehend
the glory of distinguishing right over wrong,
get their priorities straight, that saving others,
especially those you placed on the starting line of life,
is the first principle and overplants anything else when you

teach them to swim

my eyes see the tally, why, they are red! could it be lack of sleep?

I am smiling when I am lying,
teach them to swim always first,
but not enough, one must do it well, well,
and even then, better, 
as all else will, from the well, follow, when you

teach them to swim

3:10am

~~~

Oh! The seas of negativity
Snickers, stares, and sneers
Lost and drowned, no opportunity
Trapped within our jeers

And (Look!) we swim and find our way
Confused when they get left behind
Worked twice as hard for no delay
Dismissed outright with (Never mind!)

Oh! Our eyes of pity stare
There with care, but not their friend
They not seen, only the chair
Proud to show the hand we lend

Yet they ignore those smirking eyes and brush those pity eyes
And proud they stand, work times ten: Knowing themselves the wise

And I keep swimming towards you.
Even if the current pushes me away.
My stubborn self swallows its love for you, drowning, struggling to keep its head over water.
And they tell me you’re the lighthouse.
Even if you’re far away. Just keep swimming.
And I know you’re there. Waiting for me. But not just yet.


And my heart believes it all. What a fool.

When I was a kid
my father taught me
how to swim
So I could not drown
When the waves pull me
with them
And so I learned,
Now whenever people
Try to pull me down,
I do not sink

Its a summer,
sitting in the house older than the dirt in the garden just outside.

In the summer heat,
where we wear our bathing suits all day long.

We stay out in the sun because,
Pop pop says its good for us

We eat and eat and eat,
And we play and play and play

"stay young," Pop Pop mumbles under his breath,
of course when I was younger I never truly understood the words spoken form his lips.

As a teen in my grandparent's backyard,
my ungraceful limbs and awkward body were welcomed.

Mom mom and Pop pop loved my brace face even when I didn't.

My stomach rolls didn't matter.
In fact, the only rolls that did matter were the ones we ate with our macaroni.

In my grandparents home, we spend busy mornings,
but lazy afternoons playing poker at the table.

In my grandparents house,
sadness rolls away like the waves at the local New England beach.

Of course, like any good family, things can get angry and heated,

But at my grandparent's house,
that's just how we know it is time for a swim.

Mamma told me to never
Tip the boat,
While daddy taught me
How to stay afloat.
Chin up child. Sink or swim.