To Life!

To Life!

I met Solly today,

he wore a ‘not here’ grin,

a battered fedora,

flapping loose in the wind

a threadbare three-piece suit-

no kippah no tzitzit,

He’d lost a lot of weight,

‘Are you feeling alright?’

‘Do I know you?  Will you

spare me a cigarette?

I’ve seen far worse than this.’

‘The meshuggah’s lost it’

His feet were raw, bleeding.

‘What’s happened to your shoes?’

A scratched head. A vague wave.

‘Shoes? Must’ve lost them. Smoke?’

I lit two Craven A’s –

a satisfying draw.

‘In the cool of the day.

The Lord strolled the garden’

King David danced before

the ox cart burdened with

the Ark from Babylon.

Sol scampered away in

drain-soaked turn-ups. Shalom.

A brutal coughing fit:

Sol doubled hawking blood,

wiped his mouth… glided on.

I called out, ‘Mazel tov.’

A cheery wave, ‘L’chaim!’

.