Susan Davis Gabbay’s most recent poem to appear here was “I am as a child, lost” (December 2017)
Tea-dark page of parchment
Now framed in gold,
We treasure you, for
Once in Babylon
Three hundred years ago
A learned scribe
Lighted his oil lamp
Bent over ink, took pen in hand
To indite these words
Of an old story, old even then
Of the Golden Calf.
As one who honored
This and all the Torah
He took utmost care to form
Letters correct and beautiful
Offering no less than
Perfect work.
We do not forget you, O Sofer,
Nor the message
You made manifest.