A long chain of hand in hand in hand in hand
Flowing around and between trees
Getting scratched and bruised by the rough bark
Refusing to let go
Even as our chain grows branches
And some fingertips barely brush the ones in front.
Ripples of caution get passed back along with reminders
The rules of walking this path.
See, I tell the one behind me
This forest isn’t scary.
Just keep holding on
And you’ll see the flowers bloom
Feel the power of waterfalls
Experiment with how far you can stretch
Discover the values
Embedded beneath your feet.
The wind whispers with us
“This is the way,
The path we walk
The boundaries that constrain and free us
Keep us together
As we walk together
To build the world.”
Rabbi Suzanne Brody serves as the Director of Ithaca Beit Midrash and is both a member of the CJLS and the JEA board. She is the author of multiple books of poetry, a historical fiction mixture of poetry and prose, and a murder mystery.