PERHAPS

If we can make it across the day

Make it past the smiling priest

Make it past the jade-hilted knife

Whose blade is curved and black

If our tongue speaks no treason

Against the sun then it may be

That night will give us shelter

Wrap us softly in shadows

Put us gently in a drawer

With bright pebbles and feathers

And lost cogs and the things

She means sometime to fix.

DOGS AND CATS

Dogs and cats used to visit the Lvoviner
Mostly towards dusk. The dogs would loiter
In the courtyard, pretending surprise
That accident had brought them there.
A gesture from the rav, one eyebrow raised
Or lowered, even a shrewd glance
Would satisfy them. Cats, though,
Convinced they were kin, would just turn up
In drawers and closets, under blankets,
Staying as long as they wished. Cold nights
Found them on the Lvoviner's chest, claiming
They were there to keep him warm.