Our Voices

Ellul Haiku
by Jack Zaffos

The cicadas announce

The return of Ellul

Return to your Soul

Grand Design
by Jack Zaffos

Seagull high
Above the living waters.

Gliding to mysteries
I know not of.

From my eyes, your ventures
Reflect my yearnings for unknown worlds.

Do you feel? Do you?
As your head darts back and forth.

Are you a seagull spirit
Fortunate to live this natural life?

Your world, your existence
Is an amazement to me.

Like you I live and breathe,
Like you I will die.

And both of us
Are within such a Grand Design.

Master of Keys
by Jack Zaffos

Master of keys,
jingling.
Master of gates guarding
the secrets of the sky
Master of explanations
not known.
Keeper of the seasons,
months and years.

Sometimes,
I hear your keys jangling
when the winds blow
and the shrubs by the street
do their dance of praise.

Master of keys,
my thoughts of your secrets
bring me fear,
for thoughts of the unknown
can be terrifying.

Master,
Will you open your gates
for a glimpse?

But, you answer no no no.
But most of all you tell me
Be not afraid.

Rose Petals On A Rock
by Jack Zaffos

I remember clawing uphill
on rocks and steps
leaping with a breath so rapid

To capture petals of peace
and clutch them to my heart
as a possession that can be taken
from me at any time

And I would crush them
and the petals would
crumple before
my eyes

Unaware the petals
were not separate from me
but always in the soul that beholds

The Sidur (The Prayer Book)
by Jack Zaffos

Words
Shine like stars
Lighting up the dark
Creating tonal sounds
Roaming through awareness
Leading to a nameless Holy Place
Where the mind can be still
And the Soul can flourish
And be present
To shards of light
And praises of Life

The House Of G-d
by Jack Zaffos

I enter into an unknown place,
of aging where my soul
greets secrets not before seen.

This body knows pain
and is so much less agile,
yet a spirit soars into realms of
joy not known before.

And to places of sadness as well,
A deep sadness.’
I wish we all could’ve been
a little kinder.
I wish I was a little kinder.

The pain and joy
somehow coexists
like an alchemy
of contradictions
that leads me to new knowing
and a new compassion
and new directions
that lead me to The House of G-d.