for Parshat Balak
i
Bilam’s donkey sees the angel of God.
Frightened animal,
she crouches to keep distance.
Then God opened the donkey’s mouth
and the donkey speaks.
Then Bilam, too, sees the angel.
ii
It is someone unquestioning in her vision
a scared animal
with a strong back
who knows only how to carry a load
and how to act on what she sees—
who can do such precise work,
such lifting,
as to carry a holy vision to the world.
It is she
who can truly speak.
____
Shabbat Shalom,
Abe
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