a poem by mani lieb

Psalmodist

Let shrieking steel and gray stone be set

For green grass; the clash of hammer and tongs

And the rush of wheels - birdsong;

Grating of saws - the summer cricket; the pious poet -

The merchant. And as in earliest and early days

The grass will shoot its stalk through the rock

In rhythm with the cricket; and over the clanging shock

Of steel - the bird's song will range far and away.

So too the poet: pious, from market noises,

From business bustling and the wheels' clatter

He will move apart with parchment, ink and feather

To the holiness of the word, which in its commonness

Is strong - to stitch prayers for the world: to knit

The heart to God, to unbind the sorrow on silent lips.

Lieb, Mani. "Psalmodist" Voices Within the Ark: The Modern Jewish Poets. New York: Avon Books, 1980.