by Mel Glenn (Brooklyn, NY)
I am lucky enough to have
friends on either side
of the religious diamond,
fundamentalists who swing from the right,
and atheists who bat from the left.
I stand squarely in the middle,
unsure which side to root for,
let alone play for.
I am caught between
piety and protest, tradition and rebellion.
There are so many teams,
as there are so many religions.
For which team do I sign a long-term
contract on the dotted line?
The Pittsburgh Protestants?
The Boston Buddhists?
The Miami Muslims,
or the Jersey City Jews?
Doesn’t God pitch for all the teams?
Who is to say which team is best,
which team is strongest,
which team leads the league?
We are all essentially on the same playing field.
We are all part of the same cosmic lineup.
We need to feel connected,
no matter which team we play for.
We do not wish to be wandering alone.
Mel Glenn, the author of twelve books for young adults, is working on a poetry book about the pandemic tentatively titled Pandemic, Poetry, and People. He has lived nearly all his life in Brooklyn, NY, where he taught English at A. Lincoln High School for thirty-one years. You can find his most recent poems in the YA anthology, This Family Is Driving Me Crazy, edited by M. Jerry Weiss. If you’d like to learn more about his work, visit: http://www.melglenn.com/
The Jewish Writing Project 