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Robin Diamond

Terrycloth and Linoleum

Art done by my dear friend Cheryl Beychok. Follow her on Instagram as "Spiritsculptor"

forlorn, cozy

in a one-bedroom above the Coney bazaar

discreetly nameless among ghosts

 

here have I come

to putter among coffee cups and teaspoons

plenty of canned goods in the pantry

holding out in terrycloth bathrobe

even were I to answer the door

sequestered here

inconsequential and happily nameless

 

puttering in shtechshich

this life supplants others, quietly

coffee stirred,  perfectly purposeless

 

G-d passes over this address

No need for blood on the lintel

nondescript in blue terrycloth

from toilet to kitchenette

traipsing, sitting, puttering

linoleum beneath my slippered feet, intact

 

Let me live unknown and untapped

no great works or tasks

no need for His ministrations or interventions

 

pulling down the shade

waning day has aged since morning

 

About the Author
Robin is a retired Language Arts high school teacher who taught in the Los Angeles Unified District for 25 years. After retiring in 2010, she hurriedly made aliyah in 2011.