Two women

When Leah sneaks in late at night,
she brings almonds and figs,
a taste of stolen wine.

She tells me
what we could make together
if I would forget her sister.

When I touch her
and lick the cloud from her body,
she quivers like a sky of bright seeds.

"Forget my sister," she repeats
but when the moon lights
her twelve candles,

it is Rachel
who sits on my thighs,
who bites my lips and laughs,

who seizes me with her arms and legs,
her burning prophecy,
Rachel, whose hair is darker than darkness.

JEFF FRIEDMAN's third collection of poetry, Taking Down the Angel, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in 2003. His poems have appeared in such magazines as American Poetry Review, Poetry, and The New Republic.

COPYRIGHT 2004 American Jewish Congress
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