Shelter of peace (a poem)

It was a three-tiered fountain.
From the top bowl, the water poured out
Cascading to the second bowl
Then to the third
Where a sparrow splashed about for several minutes
Flapping its wings
Taking a sip, then another
Before flying away

In the park, under the trees
I’d whiled away my lunch hour
On this, the last day of summer
What a beauty!
Sunny, just warm enough, a gentle breeze blowing

Always, under a canopy of leafy trees
I feel such a sense of peace
As if I were sitting in Hashem’s own sukkat shalom

I’ll miss this when the cold weather comes
But there’s a consolation in seeing the gentle geometry
of the bare tree branches’ lacy tracery
against the sky

Meanwhile, I’ll take thick-leaved branches
Willows of the brook, palm leaves
Heaven-scented citron
And rejoice before Hashem with lulav and etrog
and words of brachah

In gratitude for His beautiful, bountiful Earth
I’ll while away my lunch hour in a human-made sukkah