some say
I am ugly
monstrous
in form
defiled
deformed
inhuman
but I am
just me

crafted by
a rabbi's
hand from
honest river
mud just
doing as I
am told to
protect the
faithful

and just like
you humans I
was killed off
when I became
a liability
surplus to
requirements
broken returned
to clay

yet does your
good book not
say we are all
crafted by a
creator's hand
from mud made
live through
the breath
of life

and does your
good book not also
say that whether
we are seen
as ugly or
beautiful we
all return as
ashes to ashes
dust to dust

therefore who
dare say I am
lesser than they

I am the Golem

I am alive

I can hear birds sing

I have value

10/19/2006

Author's Note: The tradition of the golem go back far into Jewish folklore and history. In Prague, there is a particular fascination with the Golem made by Rabbi Loew in the 16th Century to protect the ghetto from anti-semitic attacks. Tradition has it that although destroyed by the same hands, after he had served his purpose, the Prague Golem is not truly dead ... You will find more on this legend at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem

Posted on 10/19/2006
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