Always with my Father
after reading S.Y. Agnon's story "Twofold"
A man in a story dreams
he never finds the temple
where his father worships,
I do not have to find the shul
where my father prays.
It is always there rising on a hill.
In the man's dream
a tallis with three fringes
means death.
My father's prayer shawl
shimmers in its fullness
as I run my fingers through
the silken threads
none missing
as the cantor sings
and my father chants
and shows me
in the small, glossy, white
prayer book my mother
gave my father
as an engagement gift,
shows me the place
to follow, my voice
blending with his.
No blur of boundaries or space
the seeker in the tale suffers from,
no fear of loss.
I am always with my father.
His now worn prayer book rests
in my bookcase.
I know where to find it.
Janet Krauss enjoyed teaching English at St. Basil Seminary for 29 years and Fairfield University for 39 years. She continues to mentor students. lead a poetry discussion at the Wilton Library, participate in the CT. Poetry Society Workshop and other poetry groups. She is the Poetry Program Director of the Black Rock Guild. She has 2 books of poetry: Borrowed Scenery (Yuganta Press) and Through the Trees of Autumn (Spartina Press). She is a widely published poet and many of her poems have been published in Amethyst Review and her haiku in Cold Moon Journal.
Amethyst Review 