Resurrection of the Dead

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: 

One who sees a friend after a lapse of thirty days says, 

“Blessed is He who has kept us alive and preserved us and brought us to this season.” 

After a lapse of twelve months he says: “Blessed is He who revives the dead.” 

(Berachot 58b)

What died?

And what is reborn?

What is alive between us 

   When we stand, beheld, facing each other?

Angel or animal,

Conceived by the two of us,

Instantly,

As we exchange without thinking:

Odor of breath and pore

Skin leather

Body heat

Eyes hesitating

Small muscles twitching

The contours of our torsos

Sex dance

The undeniable decline into death.

In that split second

We live unto each other.

And as the days pass

Becoming weeks and years,

Our atoms mingle

Our souls entangle

And then you are so much of me

And I of you

That pulling us apart,

The animal dies.

The angel withdraws from this world

And hides

Asleep

Silent

Waiting in the dark womb of God

To be born.