On
waters where we once could fish,
waters where we once could swim,
waters that did not reach our beach house
even at high tide,
we
encounter ourselves in the sea of midrash as we
encounter Rashbi’s parable of sailors who
encounter a guy claiming the right to drill
under his seat.
—
Lawrence Lesser has won awards as a poet, songwriter, and University of Texas at El Paso professor. His 100 poems appear in 15+ venues, including Poetica Magazine, Talking Writing, DRASH: Northwest Mosaic, BorderSenses Literary Magazine, and Consilience. His “Same Boat” poem has similar inspiration (Midrash Rabbah Vayikra 4:6) as his song “Rowboat” (from his award-winning album of transdenominational original Jewish folk-rock) which he has performed at Earth Day and World Water Week events.
