From the moment we enter
Squalling and mewling
Into this world, we collect
Salient facts.
Some are not of our choice:
Where and when we are born
And who bore us, and
Whom else she bore,
Thus on that day we mark one aspect
Of our passing time,
With the place, language, folk
We deem native.
There are exceptions, some tragic,
Some just sad, when the end date is
By choice, but generally, that too
Is an unchosen salient fact
About which our philosophers, and thinkers,
And teachers argue as to whether my me
Knows after the fact that the date
Is in fact salient.
Then the happenstances which arrive
From wherever: Man’s hands, God’s hands,
Fate’s hands, unknown hands,
Brands a salient fact on our lives.
Some we enjoy, some we relish,
Too many we regret and those, the
Many, become the most burning
Salient facts, weeping salient facts.
The best salient facts one prays
Are the facts willfully chosen: a
Salient fact of choice for mom and dad,
A salient compelled fact for baby.
Along the way, we compile our salient facts,
Along the way, we hope to share our facts,
Some salient, others not, but the
Salient facts mark us. Some with joy,
Some with tears, and with some final ones,
Tears and joys shade the facts
Which ones? I know some of mine,
Perhaps I have forgotten a few, maybe many.
I bet the
Same for you too
But as I believe, I believe (or is it hope,
Or pray, or wonder, or desperate clinging)
That my ledger of salient facts finds
A space on the shelf of the
Primordial account cabinet,
And that the Joys,
Earthly and celestial,
Outnumber the rest.
02/27/25
30th Shevat 5785
Rosh Hodesh Adar
