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Nat Lipstadt Dec 2016
A minyan is an assembly of ten Jews.  With ten present, the group can perform a fuller service, adding congregational prayers that an individual alone cannot say, and in heaven, received, as if from a 
more powerful, unified voice.

~~~
Satan laughing with delight at the happy news,
unusually proud of his soul-retrieving,
red state minions,
having scored late in the '16 season,
a long awaited prize,
a high priest of music, a hallelujah singer
just come  cross the borderline,
once a mere earth bound legend,
now to be mockingly enjoyed
in this, his legendary peculiar tier of heaven
~
a banner year it was, a cornucopia of new arrivals,
singers, songwriters, composers, conductors, rock 'n rollers,
itinerant blues musicians,
who as a rule, were not the most faithful observers
of the Ten Commandments and its host of detailed relatives
~
body and drug abusers,
of traditional morals, not such big users,
and as for their *** lives,
best not discussed in front of the baby devils,
just quite yet
~
all this made for easy "pluckings,"
as he smiled devilishly, his own ironic sense of humor,
an added delight for the new American Pie
that would forever serenade him henceforth
~
indeed this Leo-nine most new arrival,
intensifies the pleasure,
for deep in this one had waxed the god-spark,
his own fractured demise,
now allowing the cracks of light to be closing,
lessening by an immeasurable fraction
the despised joy to the world
-
then a raucous rustling heard,
a voice unseen but siren penetratingly heard proclaiming:

**** you Satan,
this time you've gone too far!

return unto me them all,
for you have overstepped the boundaries I have constructed
when birthed I the universe so long ago

these children, mine,
for though they were not perfect in their lives,
they perfected ever so much my designs,
the world I granted them,
with their music, voice and hands,
absolving them of all their sins

Surrender to me them all!

my Prince,
my lion, Cohen, high priest of my temple,
my haggard and worn Merle,
the greyed and Frey'd eagle, Glenn,
Natalie, daughter of the Earth King of Cole,
my rose of Sharon Jones,
my Emerson and my Lake,
Leon Russell,
my white bearded russet
who wrote 'A Song For You,'
the Duchess, Patty,
my Bobby Vee,
the first ro see
'the night has a thousand eyes,'
Frank Sinatra Jr., his fathers torch bearer,
my David, my right arm, my Bowieknife carrier,
who fell from heaven and needs returning unto me,
mine own Kanter,Jeffersonian pilot of my Airplane,
my Michael, George,
my Martin, George,
who never sang a word
but gifted us some Beatles,
My black and White Maurice,
who reignited the Earth, with Wind and Fire

all these mine and all the musicians of this year,
they have died, but not their music,
now to join my heavenly chorus,
my musicians' minyan
Second of a trilogy, but the first one posted,
about Leonard Cohen

Kohen or cohen (or kohain; Hebrew: כֹּהֵן‎, "priest", pl. כֹּהֲנִים‎ kohanim) is the Hebrew word for priest used colloquially in reference to the Aaronic priesthood. Jewish kohanim are traditionally believed and halakhically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the biblical Aaron. The term is colloquially used in Orthodox Judaism in reference to modern day descendants of Aharon, brother of Moses.

Among the few remaining responsibility of a cohen today is the chanting of the priestly  blessing in the synagogue on high holy days in a special tune, instantly recognizable  by every Jew.   When the  Jewish priest chants the blessing, the Spirit of God is presumed to become present in the synagogue, and all bow their heads, fathers cover their children's eyes, lest one witness  god's image. Ironically, the special way that a cohen extends his arms and holds his fingers in a V  shape, was borrowed by another Canadian Jew, Leonard Nimoy, as inspiration for Spock's  greeting.

see en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_Blessing

see
//jewcy.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/leonard-nimoy-vulcan-salute-yiddish
Kalesh Kurup Aug 2017
That journey from Morgue was hardly an hour and a half
But my travail took me through thirty years,
Holding his cradle tight, lest to wake him up from that eternal sleep

As he was laid in that ambulance all dressed up for his final journey,
He looked the smart, tall "Chettan ", unlike the child I tended a month back
Forlorn in some early childhood shores, courtesy the Alzheimer's

A bump ahead on the road shook the ambulance and me from my thoughts
In a reflex, my hands went to hold him from falling from the cradle
An eerie chill went through my spine, he was ice cold- the body was in Morgue for long

Water soaks through his new shirt, ice melts in the outside heat
“Chettan” who stood so tall for you to always looked up to…
Who came with abundance in his back pack every Friday

With his Murphy radio playing melodies deep in to the nights
With his cloak work precisions for breakfast to dinner times
With his grins and growls that moved the moods of “Chechi ”

Have you ever tried to feel a body from the morgue?
An ice cold, motion less, sensor less body
That moment and the eerie chill is a revelation
Death is so penetratingly cold
That you wish you don’t have senses to feel it anymore

Ambulance halted at the large assemblage of mourners
I stepped out, a furious movie flash back playing in that ‘space within my heart’
He laid there- ice cold; waiting to be escorted, to the pyre;
With that space within his heart gone to a void, unwittingly

- all rights reserved
“Chettan” in Malayalam is used to address an elder male. In this case an elder brother in law

  “Chechi” in Malayalam is used to address an elder female. In this case an elder sister
Delaney Sep 2015
I was unaware
of the danger coming my way
the first time our eyes met.
A simple glimpse,
a shy smile;
how was I to know?

Perhaps I should have seen it
in the way you looked too long,
too penetratingly, too diligently;
but, it turns out, I did not.

We gazed
a plethora of times,
before I accurately learned who you were.

Your irises were a blur, frantic,
glaring down at me.
I was like an animal, imprisoned beneath your grasp.
Struggling,
crying,
why hadn’t I seen this coming?

Your eyes, no remorse,
Piercing into mine, staring,
As you stole from my soul.

I no longer look into your eyes,
although I see you every day.
Eye contact, you see, will only stand to remind.


(d.d.b)
SG Holter Aug 2014
She floated towards me.
An extention of a dream,  
The finger tip of God's
Downstretched hand.

My eyes wide open into
Bedroom darkness, as
If seeing something ghost
Yet so very, very not.

Hair flowing as if fading
Into the frame of
Night. Arms like wings over
Eggs; every piece of my

Heart in one warm nest.
Eyes like universes, skin
The glow of supernovas.
Smile as sincere as a

Mother's. Ænima. Soul-
Muse. The final force
Behind every poet's pen.
Nothing so penetratingly

Beautiful ever touched the
Iris of my inner eye. Never
Felt such embrace, as if safe
At last; knowing: In not too

Long, every drop of water on
Earth has been
Cried at least
Once.
Brian McDonagh Jan 2019
Most of my relatives are distant,
But some have the ability
To bring me into an elevenses of life,
And one particular person
Is my cousin, Teresa.

I call her Terry for short.
That doesn't change how spectacular she is
To me, though!

Terry and her family traditionally visit my family
To ring in the New Year.

This New Year, just on a ten-minute car ride to a local town,
Terry talked to me about her plans for her birthday,
And her favorite books to read as of lately:
Weedly-Deedly (about a nice dragon)
And PuddleBooks, which include children characters
Such as Yolanda Yells-A-Lot.
A year or two backward,
I wouldn't have taken the topic so seriously
As I am one to easily laugh about anything
Depending on what thoughts are in my mind usually.
However, as long as I don't know fully the plot, the scenes
Of what happens in such fiction as the PuddleBooks series,
I am clueless to the lessons and learnings
I could easily miss.
There should be a warning everywhere
Not to look down on what we think we outgrow
As long as lessons are everywhere
For all ages.

There was also a time,
Many moons ago,
When my aunt had the cousins arranged
Seated on a couch
For a picture or two.
I became irritated and uncomfortable
Being claustrophobically shoulder-squished.
Upset, I curled on the floor and cried
In front of everyone in the room.
The first gesture that Terry offered me
Was a hand to pull me up from the carpet,
Of which I accepted,
Like a ***** toward a penetratingly loving Samaritan.

Before my relatives departed today,
My aunt told me how stellar Terry's memory is
And can be.
My aunt backed her claim strongly
By telling me how Terry remembered a quiet morning
Where she and I were the only ones awake
And I made waffles for her.

You don't have to go to a concert
To make special memories.
You're not required to know all
Or be all
To be recognized.
And my cousin Terry, alive and well,
An interactor for sure,
Doesn't need the sky
To be a soul of sunshine.
It's not always easy to be among family, but people like my cousin Terry know how to bring the positive and connect everyone together.  I learn a lot from being around her.
David Barr Apr 2014
How penetratingly damp are the vocals of historical rites which resound throughout the beams of sacred and ancient planets.
As we flick the pages of that which was written before the magistrates, it will become clear, my friend of nostalgic accusation.
Let us amble together alongside this dark loch of awe, where children have drowned in the murky depths of Highland violence.
Oh, great spiritual guide of Celtic and rebellious Jacobean statements - I want to swallow your soul.
Hopefully, we will become parents.
Prathipa Nair Nov 2016
In the flash of lightning he met
penetratingly expressive eyes of a dancing doll
Electricity of those rosy smile lit the dark room of his heart
with thousands of glittering lights
His stomach giving birth to a number of fluttering butterflies
Nearing her presence of closeness, heart beating a new rhythm of jazz
Black silky hair like a peacock feather daintily fondling by his cheeks
Crossing his sight with a glance
Dipping his heart in her fragrance of lavender talcum
Losing control over his neck from adoring her
With the inner oracle whispering
She's the one for you !
Beckett Green Nov 2019
Consistently inconsistent
Reliably unreliable
Amiably aloof
Unmistakably ambiguous
Predictably erratic
Revealingly vague
Openly shut tight

Distinctly indistinct
Lucidly incoherent
Affectionately cold.
Unremittingly intermittent
Accessibly inaccessible
Penetratingly impenetrable

Relentingly relentless.

Some things in life you can always count on to remain the same.
In that regard, you'll always be there for me. Unfailingly.
Nak Aug 2020
When The Alarm sounds...

There is a change

Each key marks the manipulation of the strings

The extraordinary
Supernatural
Otherworldly ensemble

The very sound shifts his being to his core
His essence molded by the penetratingly profound medley

The Alarm calls...
Whispers...
Then extends

NO
don't touch me
don't take it from me
I'm saving it for someone

I shut my ears
I abhor the alarm...

— The End —