I carry the thoughts of yesterday, in this small leather book.
Without it I'd carry fears for tomorrow, of memories I mistook.
On my finger lives a ring, with a phrase of deep embed.
Do not linger on a thing, lose your days, or be misled.
“Carpe Diem” it says, so small to hardly be read,
But it’s cadence, its weight still fills me with dread,
As I carry not the power or voice to it’s message spread.
Still those words and their wisdom do lift me from my bed,
Just as Loew’s Golem1, when he would gift “truth” upon his head.
I too live to solve our libels, but these are lies of time bled , not of bloodshed.
Not of leaven for bread or children of red,
but of men who saw and planned too far ahead.
Our libels are of guilt that weighs heavy as lead.
Of all the trails that were lost or left untread.
Of hours wasted dusting a shed or re-coiling thread.
Of eyes captured in modernity’s pleasurable stead.
Of lovers who waited far too long to wed,
And of all their words, left unsaid.
Of all the old relatives and urban heroes left unvivaed2
Of potential genius, being slept and smoked away instead.
Of failed artists and their art, cut to shred,
And of the parents who once kept their mouths and minds fed.
Finally, a libel that should to all be a lamed3:
The poisonous simplicity of “next time” just before we fled.
I carry these words to show that we are more than just alive and bred,
And should strive to find a true life, right now, before we find ourselves dead.
1. Loew’s Golem- Judah Loew ben Bezalel was a Jewish Rabbi or religious leader from 1553 until his death in 1609. During this time there was a strong re-emergence of the Blood Libels in Prague, in which the Jewish people of the area were accused of sacrificing christian children to use their blood in the creation of matzos, an unleavened Jewish staple eaten during passover. As the story goes, Loew used his knowledge of God’s creation of Adam to erect a massive clay Golem to help fight off these accusations. To bring it to life, he carved into its forehead “emet” meaning truth.
2. Vivaed- (Vih-Ved) Past tense of “viva”. A British English term meaning “to orally conduct an examination.”
3. Lamed- ( Lah-med) The twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, possessing several translational interpretations. It most commonly translates to the process of obtaining or the possession of a thing, primarily knowledge.
Rhyms with embed used:
Embed, Misled, Read, Dread, Spread, Bed, Head, Bled, Bloodshed, Bread, Red, Ahead, Lead, Untread, Shed, Thread, Stead, Wed, Unsaid, Unvivaed, Instead, Shred, Fed, Lamed, Fled, Bred, Dead