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Reminds me of that song, Bring in the Clowns! ... Hey, but that is a good poem I'd chuck the line 'or tried' out, it kinda interrupts and muddies the waters. (No pun intended.) May you have many more poems in 2013 - and publication, should you wish it. Happy New Year to all. Andrew On 1 January 2013 11:22, Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > TASHLICH > > (Tashlich is the ceremony performed on the first day > of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, when bread > is cast into a stream or river to signify the > casting-off of the errors of the dying year.) > > Tie them in a sack, > with knots as tight as the knots in your stomach: > tie the knots double, > lest what's inside is the Houdini > of your private demon-closet, > and may escape. > Weight them with stones, > carry them to the shores > of some convenient stream of living waters. > Cast them as far as you can > (pray for them if it pleases you): > but let them drown. > > I'm sorry if you're squeamish, > and yes, killing is a sin, > but it's a war, after all: > and if you get queasy at the thought > of what's in the bag squirming, > choking for air, > think what they would do to you > if they got loose, > what they maybe did to you already, > or tried. > Consider it a mercy-killing, > consider yourself prepaid > on the Five Stages of Grief, > and this casting-off a celebration. > > Let the minstrels come in. -- Andrew http://hispirits.blogspot.com/ 'Undercover of Lightness' http://walleahpress.com.au/recent-publications.html 'Shikibu Shuffle' http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/new-from-aboveground-press-shikibu.html