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A Poem from a Reader
By Jay | January 11, 2007
Self-Organizing Men inspired Rich Tolman to write the following poem. He has graciously allowed me to reprint it in its entirety.
My voice is changing again…
I’m a Bar Mitzvah boy.
Two weeks shy of thirteen.
Performing for the first time
Before family, friends, a congregation of witnesses
Go ahead Bar Mitzvah Boy.
Read ancient script-with no vowels-from a sheepskin parchment
Sing ancient chants- in a foreign tongue –with obscure melodies.
Wrestle modern truth-words of wisdom- from the cryptic text.
Lead the congregation.
Become a man.
Is this right of passage ordeal enough?
No-
Schedule the performance at the precise moment puberty courses through my body
Rub my throat with sandpaper,
Grab my vocal cords and yank them down to my gonads,
Go ahead.
Transform my reedy grade school soprano into a croaky, cracky junior high rasp.
Go ahead Bar Mitzvah Boy. Sing. Become a man.
Okay.
My voice is changing— but sing I must.
Speak I will.
About forgiving debts-freeing slaves-jubilee year
Justice-the sweetest lesson decoded from the ancient letters.
Years pass.
Wife and daughters provide reminders enough
Yet my voice overdeepens still.
Privilege, power, position give me the pulpit of everyday life.
Hey Professor.
Listen to the voices of these poets.
Listen to tales of misuse and abuse by callous misguided boys
Listen to cries of kids cowering from fists of raging fathers
Listen to young women who grew up kicking soccer balls
Their words can kick the ass off comfortable complacency
Listen hard Professor.
Listen to men trying to love men without getting their asses kicked.
Absorb the surge of hormones from brave m to f bodies
Transitioning in the face of homicidal terror
Embrace the transman- becoming a man he is transforming manhood-
Reminding me to get out of the box,
Teaching me to turn it over
And stand on it
and Shout.
Listen to the voices-real, honest, raw
Now, Mr. Professor
Go ahead, Speak.
My voice is changing again.
unbecoming, rebecoming, ever becoming a man.
Topics: Feminism, Jewish, Poetry, Masculinity, Self-Organizing Men |
January 12th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Whoa. Great poem.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
This is an amazing piece. I love the way it calls up ancient history from the Bible. These words recited at bar and bat mitzvahs have a huge role in why these modern day abuses happen and we perpetuate them in the name of tradition. Still, there are those who dare to resist compliance with societal demands and they pay a huge price just like those who refused to comply with the harsh judicial system laid out within the old Jewish holy books.
I hope that this author will continue to create works like this. I hope we’ll hear more from him at some point in the future. His talent is abundant.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Makes me wish he had the courage to speak so directly when I worked with/near him. I applaud Dr. Tolman for doing his part to dismantle the academic prejudice that keeps so many professorial types from thinking they have anything to learn from the unwashed masses. I hope his legacy is in turn embraced and reflected by his graduates as they move forward into the world, enjoying the privilege a UM education bestows upon a graduate.
More please!