Poem for Tu B'Shevat

This poem celebrates the shapes of Hebrew letters as they appear in the forms of trees, and honors the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the full moon of the month of Shevat (Jan./Feb.), the Jewish new year for trees.

I am beginning to see the Hebrew letters in the bare branches of the trees:

The final tzadik in the little cherry by the deck, the one we planted in the spring,

The taf in the ancient locust at the yard’s west end.

The reish is everywhere, and once I saw a samech in the clouds.

Was it like this for Adam, when
With all the time in the world,
God spelled him the letters of Creation?

Peter Pitzele is a renowed bibliodramatist and myth-maker.

more shevat wisdom