Standing in Divine Assembly

standing
in Divine assembly
each
tree with its own connections
its
own message
its
own role
its
own journey
through
life

so
too, we humans
stand
in Divine assembly
each
of us with our own connections
our
own story
our
own journey
through
life

no
matter where we stand
grief
will find us

Agamemnon
charges us to
tell
the story of grief
and
Jewish tradition calls out to us to live
the
story of our
grief
it
begins with aninut
– from death to burial
when
we bear no responsibility to G?d outside of grieving
to
shiva
– seven days of the community coming to us
to
shloshim
– thirty days of living differently
out in the world
and
then eleven months of saying Kaddish every day
and
always, always, four times a year
together
with everyone else
remembering
out loud our grief
until
we no longer walk this earth

and
every single one of these times
standing
together
standing
in Divine assembly

no
matter how joyous an occasion
a
pause to remember the dead
allowing
grief
acknowledging
grief
with
words that say nothing of loss but which praise G?d in ancient Aramaic
a
reminder
with
Agamemnon
of
the everpresence of grief
and
that our experience is nothing new
yet
acknowledging
that
on the
level
of G!d [Elie Weisel]
some experiences of life and grief
perhaps not our own everyperson kind
of experiences
but some
forever
remain
the most disturbing of
mysteries [Elie Weisel]

and
for the trees
what
does it mean that we are upending life on planet Earth
what
does it mean to the Divine assembly where G?d judges
what
does it mean to us
what
does it mean to the oak and the willow
the bumblebee and the ant
the buffalo and the rose
the rhinoceros
what
does it mean to Agamemnon
what
does it mean to G?d

does
this level of grief
about
the injustice of who is suffering most
about
families forced to migrate to stay alive
about
innocent people disappeared
or
thrown into concentration camps
about
the loss of so much
so very much that is beloved
about
the fear that is stoked
sending
otherwise reasonable people
into
rabidly defending their little corner of this precious planet

can
we possibly honor, hold, and experience
this
level of grief
or
will it
on
the level of human, redwood, bear and daisy
mountain laurel, spider, wasp and
fly
clover, mountain brook and pebble
be
simply too much to bear
too
vast to comprehend
too
complicated to express
even as it grows more intense
and
remain forever a most disturbing
of mysteries

℘℘℘℘

Katy Z. Allen is a poet and a devoted lover of the more‑than‑human world. A retired rabbi of an outdoor congregation, she has also served as a healthcare chaplain, co‑founded a Jewish climate organisation, and works as an eco‑chaplain. She is a member of the LGBTQ community and has been writing in one form or another throughout her life. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Amethyst Review, The Bluebird Word, and Art on the Trails: Number 9, among other venues. Her book, A Tree of Life: A Story in Word, Image, and Text, was published by Strong Voices.