From ‘Portions’
Six years you may sow your field and six years may you prune your vineyard
Pruning
When we came in August, there were roses —
budding, half opened, in bloom —
and some we had missed in their glory.
Their histories lost to us. The future is ours,
and so I took up orange-handled shears,
and all morning I severed and severed.
Whatever knotted shape the canes took
I cut away, with the small red buds
that would have been new growth.
Now, above each bush, a sphere of air.
May I be spared to cut again,
sever one future, shape another.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.