A clean tie
Into a daled, retzuo left and right
Onto my chest, breath slowed
And a still, summer day once inside

Now to show,
A tallit in purple and white,
New styles for a new time
Turned from the bathroom mirror

Then a bow,
The Sh-D-I turned toward
The siddur turned away
And inside, a still summer day

Side to side,
A flickering phrase in tune, a hello,
As markings printed, not inscribed,
A word in the book of life

Robert Simon (pronouns: he, him, his) is Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Kennesaw State University. Along with his numerous academic publications, he has also published ten collections of poetry, including Ode to Friendship (2021), for which he was nominated for the Georgia Writers Association Author of the Year Award in 2022, The Bridge (2019), and The Musician (2017), as well as with poems in various journals in India, Portugal, and the United States. He enjoys spending time with his daughter, reading, running, serving his local congregation, and playing the oboe.