A neighbor invited us over tonight for a celebration of Sukkot, the Jewish holiday after Yom Kippur that marks a time to “rejoice in God’s bounty.” The neighbors’ children love to come up our street to check out the poetry box, so I thought I’d bring a poem along with our potluck side dish.
I turned to my friend Adam, who has the dual credentials of being both a poet and the husband of a rabbi. “Plenty” is the first poem that came to mind for him, and it’s just right. It can feel hard to find beauty at the tail end of a hot, dry, difficult summer in Austin, but this poem argues that beauty is all around us even so. Happy Sukkot to those who are celebrating.
Behind the sky there’s a storm
on the way, which, with your luck,
will be a beautiful storm
