Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.

I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Friday, November 15th, 2004.

Today's poem is from Jessica Greenbaum, and it's called A Poem for S.

I'll read it once, offer a few comments, and read it one more time.

A poem for S.

Because you used to leaf through the dictionary, casually as someone might in a barber shop, and devotedly as someone might in a sanctuary,

each letter would still have your attention, if not, for the responsibilities life has tightly

fit, like gears around the cog of you,

like so many petals hinged on a daisy.

That's why I'll just use your initial.

Do you know that in one treasured story, a Jewish ancestor, horseback, in the woods at Yom Kippur,

and stranded without a prayer book, looked into the darkness and realized he had

merely to name the alphabet to ask forgiveness. No congregation of figures needed, he could speak

one letter at a time because all of creation proceeded from those. He fed his horse and then

quietly because it was from his heart, he recited them slowly,

from Aleph to Tav.

Within those sounds, all others were born.

All manner of trials, actions, emotions, everything needed to understand who he was,

had been, how flaws venerate the human being, how aspirations return without spite.

Now for you, may your wife's x-ray return with good news.

May we raise our zarfs to both your names in the great book of life.

And because you're not going to be able to think about anything else until I explain the word Zarf, that's where we're going to start.

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