Ice Cream and Talmud
If only I could get you to eat this ice cream!
Sometimes simple tasks are hardest, and I’ve lived through that.
And the heart does have its reasons. The Talmud
says we are each a planet: “Save one life,
save the whole world.” Now to my mind, this is accurate
based on everything I’ve come to know of people,
which is all anyone can go on in the end.
To get back to the ice cream. I’ve been trying to reconcile
you and this ice cream, and it hasn’t happened.
I’ve laid out for you
the ways this world would be a better place,
if only you would follow my advice
and eat. Because I grieve to see you
not happy. And just now it dawns on me –
perhaps a little late – that my desire
to see you happy may not be what you
most want. Perhaps you want something quite different.
Perhaps you don’t know what you want. Your heart
says no to ice cream, and you just trust that.
John Claiborne Isbell was born in Seattle, USA and later lived in Europe and the United Kingdom, where he went to school. He has been teaching languages for some time, teaching French and German at universities in the United Kingdom and the United States. He has published various books, including a volume of poetry, Allegro, with a picture of a cello on the cover. Two more books came out this year, both about women authors.
Amethyst Review 