Vor dem Gesetz steht ein Türhüter.
--Kafka*
This is a day
like the many days I've spent
empty handed
among the shadows at dusk
that cast no reflections
in the reflecting pools
and hold no illusions
as to what really is illusive.
But on this day my illusions
are changing
imagining that for once my world is based
upon three things;
The rule of law
The five books of your hand
And you, the prophetess that wrote them.
And as required
I will build a hedge for you.
And if this hedge
should ever over grow,
I will then trim it
like a true guardian of the law
Allowing none other entry
and I alone will hold fast
to the five books of your hand
and the only other existing copy.
a slightly different version of this poem was published in EUROPEAN JUDAISM (UK) 25:1 (Spring 1992) p. 59