This day where awe and dread fall together
As individuals can we face a judgement
That causes angels to tremble?
Must we not commit ourselves
To establishing the kindness
upon which you are enthroned?
For while each presents before you alone
Is each human being not sealed
Recorded, remembered, counted and recounted
Together in one Book?
So this day let it be written and this year let us seal
That the lives of each are precious, and each who passes leaves a mark
For who will not live and who will not die?
And who knows the length of their allotted days?
Who is above the rising water and who unburnt by fire?
Who may escape violence and who outlive the animals?
Who need not sate hunger and who can thirst unquenched?
Who is not shaken when the earth quakes and who is untouched by sickness?
Who has never been where others were once choked and beaten
And who rests easy in places of agitation
Who does not wander even in search of tranquility
And whose calm is not bought by another’s torment
Who measures not their rise against those who fall
And whose portion is not diminished envious that others have what they lack
So this day let it be written and this year let it be sealed
That whatever the decree, we respond to our selves with teshuva
That whatever the decree, we respond to G*d with tefila
That whatever the decree, we respond to others in tzedaka
Made of dust, blowing leaves, passing shadows, fleeting dreams
We are named with Your name and impressed with Your image
Each of us unique, none of us able to be replaced
Let our intentions be written this day, and let us seal them with deeds this year.
יפה מאד!