The Jonah Poems

Herein this
        contained
is an abstract
        of time
a periscope
        into repetitive
                moments
    of grief
some attained
            with resolution
each
    mirror
will reflect
            different
        sometimes difficult light
                of insight
or lack
        thereof

each body
            will ride
                its own
                    wave
onto
    shores of interpretation
at the end
        no salvation
    but
perhaps
        sometime soothing
            of dry land
    before the
                inevitable tide
                        returns

may all the
        pain
    someday
            lead to something greater

thank you
        for all
    who have
            suffered with me
and all those
            without me
and for all those
            who toil with time
                        and grief

consolation
        and inspiration
by my wife and children
            lovers in mind and body
                past and present

                               –Zale


Its Days

Its days when it plowed invisibly through the fields
showing no mercy for the innocent twigs and came
across.
But its days are numbered now.  Its days have come and
gone.  And now it just sits peacefully in the field,
enjoying its leisurely restation.
Immersed in the peaceful world that it once ruled.
It sits there waiting patiently for its conclusion.
Waiting to set with the sun.

                               –Jonah Bernstein, Grade 9