Hanukkah, the Dedication

One action will suppress. And one, sustain.
A single word will welcome or will spurn.
Tomorrow comes, and with it will return
a birthright of both justice and of pain.

We follow laws, but not one will maintain
the love we feel, the truth we long to learn.
From just one spark, so many flames will burn.
And in that light, there’s little to explain.

It may take years to plan a place to start.
But, like a temple, it will always stand.
Its door will be the spirit of our heart.
The key to it– an outstretched open hand.

We’ll gather there when everything goes wrong.
We will not rise in protest, but in song.

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The Festival of Lights

   — Hanukkah

When all the world is cold and dark, they say
it only takes one flame to light the sky.
And at one window where we stop to pray,
we bless, as friends, all strangers passing by.

The smallest glow invokes some hope for all.
And in the dark, we find a spark within.
Though no one knows the future, we recall
the moments that made all of life begin.

One candle, only one, lights many more.
And greatness comes to us as we grow old.
At end of day, again we close the door,
and all that waits for us is ours to hold.

A pulse repeats—a comforting refrain.
It is the miracle that will remain.