It takes a while, a year Maybe more, six days A week, not counting Shabbat and the holidays, Unwinding, wrapping, winding Back up the black leather Phylactery straps, around Bicep, forearm, hand, fingers, Then around the case Each day to make them supple And soft after purchasing A new pair of tefillin Or replacing the old Worn straps With stiff new ones. Eventually, as they soften And one learns the new Straps physical quirks — Tighten here, loosen there, Redo every ten or twenty or thirty Minutes into the service, The daily rites requires Less deliberation: The wrappings become Second nature.