Lift It

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If God is all-Powerful
Can he make a rock so large he himself
Cannot lift it
Cannot move it
Made up of the stone shavings of
The names
Carved out of the rock
Huddled in a pile
On the ground
The names so large
He himself cannot lift them
From the hearts
Of the bereaved
The empty spaces
Left in the rock
He himself couldn’t lift
There but not
There
The black blood that is
There but not
There

The black tears so large
He himself could not lift
The water evaporating in
The heat of the black blood
Leaving a heavy stone
Of salt so heavy
He himself could not lift it
Not in this lifetime
Nor in all the lifetimes
Of all the rocks
So heavy he himself could not
Lift them from the face of the
Well that held
The promise of the holy
The promise of justice
The promise of life
unfulfilled
Unkept
 
A lie so heavy
I myself cannot lift
My head to look
At it in its hot
mouth breathing face
Spitting a blue wall
Of stone cold
Bile I don’t
Have the strength
To see because
If I did how could I myself
Lift my dumb cold
Eyes and not
Gouge them out with
Rocks
If God is all-Powerful
Can he make a plague of
Blood so large
He himself
Cannot lift it?
Ok, God, Fine
I Believe You
are all-
Powerful
So
Lift
It
.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Rabbi Michael Rothbaum is a Jewish educator, speaker, author, and social justice advocate. He and his husband, Yiddish singer Anthony Russell, live in Oakland.
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