written for chochmat halev, berkeley, shabbes, tammuz/july 5782
Praise God
When there is nothing left to do, praise god
Praise God
for delight
Praise God
for despair
Praise God
lest we forget it
for the ability to praise
Praise God Praise Her Praise Her Praise Her
Let your tongue parade with praise and serenade Her
She has given you life
She has given you pain
She has given you joy
and those are all the same thing
Praise her Praise her Praise Her
Praise God
with clenched fists
Praise god
with upturned palms
Praise god
with your body
Praise god
that you have a body
that that body comes across other bodies
and makes good, makes naughty
makes justice
make peace
makes the world different
and if we’re lucky
better
and if we’re really lucky
a lil more healed
Praise God
for change
Praise God
for always
Praise God
for the thrill of it
Praise God
for the way "ba" tingles your lips
and "ru" massages your palette
and "ch" tickles the back of your throat
Baruch Hashem
cuz it feels good
Baruch hashem
cuz it burns
Baruch hashem, Praise that god
cuz it opens you up so that you can praise her again
and again and again
Praise her til you’ve run out of things to praise
And then praise her for that
Praise her for your chance to be alive in this moment
the terrible, un-asked for miracle of that gift
Praise her for the song she chiseled into your heart so deep you can’t help but sing it
Praise her helpless to not praise
Praise her for shabbes if you want
For the candles if you can
for the good
for the bad
for all that is
For any is at all
Praise her like your enemy
Praise her like your friend
Praise her in hate and in love and with an acid tongue and with ancient harmony
Praise her like the queen
because she is
Praise her because she is
We praise because we are
We praise in defiance of that
in anguish around it
in overwhelming rapture within it
You praise for blessings I couldn’t even dream of
I praise for a heartbeat you’ll never have inside you
But as long as I am I will always have it inside me
And you’ll have yours
We must praise her
There is no other way
If we don’t know another way
We’ll never find another way
Curse anything else
But praise her
Like balaam
til all your curses become praise
Til you remember what it’s like to walk around with a tongue relieved from the bitter and necessary weight of anger at this world
Praise her til you learn that she is in everything
So if you ever grow tired of hating anything
You can find her in there to love
Praise her til you sweat
Til you get tired
Praise her like it’s not easy
like it’s something you’re actually doing
Like an exercise, with strain, and movement, and effort, and force
Praise her
Please
Please
I need it
I forget sometimes how
And the only way I can ever remember
is by hearing you do it
So please praise her for me
praise her for you
praise her for her own damn self
any way you need it to be asked
i’m just begging you please
if you can
just
praise her