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The Four Minim

By on September 24, 2013
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4 Minim Poem 3

I see your heart as the etrog fruit –
Pulsating with life,
Tangy with taste,
Saturated with the juices of love,
Filling the breath with the fragrance
Of Your most hidden desire,
Of the fruit of Your imagination.
Your hot blood flows and swells
Around the entrance to Your Holy Temple
Where the sentry, pitam, stands erect
At Your service, at my pleasure
At the touch of my finger, my tongue.

4 Minim Poem 1

I take You all in my arms,
And holding You tight,
I sway You, and shake You,
And rustle You, and offer You
To the six corners of Infinity;
And as You are moved and shaken,
And as I draw You in and out,
I hear on the wind of Your breath
The sounds of rain
Pouring over me,
Enlivening me,
Loving me loving You.

*The Four Minim refers to the four species – palm frond, myrtle branches, willow branches and the etrog citrus fruit with its delicate tip called a pitam. The combination forms a powerful mix representing the different types of Jews from non-believers and non-practitioners to those who believe and practice.  The four minim are gathered together in the hands during the festival of Succot and are shaken in the six directions. The word Min also means sex in Hebrew, and Minim means sexes or species.

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I am a late-comer to poetry especially Jewish-laced love poetry. In the last two years I have written about 50 such poems that I am now trying to publish under the title - The Metaphysics of Love. They are about love - love for women as a metaphor for the Divine love - sometimes employing very erotic images inspired by the Song of Songs and Kabbalistic literature.
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