Week of Tiferet: Brokenness and Beauty

Whose gaze am I willing to meet?

Certainly the azalea bushes,

Ablaze in yellow and red.

Absolutely the cherry blossoms

Whose pink and white petals remain luminescent even as they fall.

And the lilacs give me no choice.

Their scent reaches out

Even before I approach.

I turn aside to look.

But what about the man in the subway

Smelling of urine and weeks’ worth of grime?

Or the woman clutching her baby

In whose hand I place a one-dollar bill?

I avert my gaze and turn away.

Today I inadvertently lifted my eyes.

First I saw a red wheelchair

And pants tucked around half a leg.

Then my gaze met another.

He smiled a wide, knowing grin

And gave me a thumbs up as he rolled himself by.

The bush is always burning.

Will I turn aside and look?

Tiferet: Brokenness in Beauty

The cracks of Divinity

That allow for the light to shine through

A radiant glory permeates all creation.

Will I risk the pain and joy of a broken heart

To turn aside and look?

In Honor of the Week of Tiferet

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