Olam Ha Ba (the world to come)

mom never explained thunder

as G-d bowling.

instead, she’d claim,

staring through rain spattered glass

thunder might one day be the return

of Eliahu Ha’Navi

horses stomping fire through clouds

The Prophet’s chariot, the comet of change

arriving to crown the Messiah.

I sleep in a new city these nights

beside a lightning fractaled sky

where the only sound

is atmosphere splitting.

I haven’t lost faith,

but no longer fear thunder.

understanding the nature of magic

is the only way to exploit it.

at the Shabbat table on Fridays

a family built purposefully

gives in to impatience,

chooses not to wait,

carries each other til feet crack

and bleed, and another set of footprints,

for a moment, takes their place.

G-d has not abandoned us,

but Earth is made of clay and mud

the creation of a golem, too,

is a form of worship.

proof the divine cannot escape

the reach of a human hand.

It has been said the messiah does not

exist, maybe, it is something

we build, all of us remembering

Christians pray to a carpenter

holy is something we enact

with tools and lungs, and so,

my friends, join me in this prayer:

Olam Ha Ba

     establish homes of worship

     on every acre of every estate

     fertilized with extracted blood.

Olam Ha Ba

     open doors to the Cold

     locking profit in the snow.

Olam Ha Ba

     those forced to duck into dirt

will sprout roots

     and take back the Earth.

Olam Ha Ba

     know Israel is not a place

     where subjugation may exist

     no Israel

     may turn another nation to soil

     or plant a starred and striped flag

Olam Ha Ba

     and when that U.S. flag burns

     we will know the fate of all false idols

Olam Ha Ba

     when we stop waiting on revelation,

     stop waiting for heaven to swallow

     the Earth, stop waiting,

     we will lower our eyes from the sun

     look at each other

     and see G-d.

katbug is a nonbinary trans woman studying creative writing in Philadelphia. She is recipient of the 2019 William Van Wert award and owns 5 swords (if you count the machete). Find more of her work in VoicemailPoems, YesPoetry, yourfavoritejawns, Bedfellows, and elsewhere. Find more of her on Twitter @mydadisold or Instagram @wheelyshoes