Unfinished Poem

We live on a holy mountain
where the crows and the Crown Plaza
rise higher than our expectations
and the golden dome is only
a restored reflection 
of the absolute.
All night the bodies of prophets 
break out of the clouds
calling, "Doom, doom."
Like the carp we bring home 
from the market, our lives 
are wrapped up in newsprint.
My friend says she'd like to
cut off her head and let all
the Jewish history run out.
We lift weights together 
twice a week to increase  
our bone density. 

From Threshold by Shirley Kaufman. Copyright © 2003 by Shirley Kaufman. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press. All right reserved.