a few words before i wander into my bed...

I know that I need to give yall an update on my seders and my trip to montreal, that beautiful and wonderous city up North. In the mean time here are some words of people far wiser and much more hip than myself which represent where my thoughts have been of late. Much love, and congrats Jessica on your engagement - I can't express how much joy it brings me to know that you will be spending your lives together. The way you love eachother is honorable and, well, a breath of fresh air. I wish you so much happiness...and some cute babies that I can knit for:) good night, laila tov.



Isaiah 58
True Fasting
1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
'and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.



looking for the holes

i am looking for the holes
the holes in your jeans
because i want to know
are they worn out in the seat
or are they worn out in the knees

there are so many ways to wear
what we have before it's gone
to make use of what is there
i don't wear anything i can't
wipe my hands on

do your politics fit
between the headlines
are they written in newsprint
are they distant
mine are crossing an empty parking lot
they are a woman walking home
at night, alone
they are six strings that sing
and wood that hums against my hip bone

we can't afford to do anyone harm
because we owe them our lives
each breath is recycled
from someone else's lungs
our enemies are the very air in disguise

you can talk a great philosophy
but if you can't be kind
to people every day
then it doesn't mean that much to me
it's the little things you do
it's the little things you say
it's the love that you give along the way

when we patch things up
they say a job well done
but when we ask the question why
where did the rips come from
they say we are subversive
and extreme of course
we are just trying to track a problem
to it's source
we are looking for the holes

because we know we can't sit back
and let people come to harm
we owe them our lives
each breath is recycled
from someone else's lungs
our enemies are the very air
our enemies are the air

© 1991 ani difranco