Lower East Side Brucha
by Rachel Trousdale
published in you are here, 2013
Blessed art thou, Lord our God, king of the universe, who
maketh Yiddish-English newspapers. Blessed art thou who
redeemeth the stained brown curtains
in billows out the window. Blessed art thou, for thou makest
the Chinese to run a bus from New York to Toledo, Ohio,
and across the street from the bus stop
thou placest the Jerusalem Yeshiva. Blessed art thou, o God,
for thou hast set dim sum restaurants on the second floor of
a mall under the Manhattan Bridge,
and blessed art thou who bringeth bitter melon to the street
stalls. Blessed art thou, who commandeth us to sweat,
who maketh the green ends of turnips to wilt in the heat, and
the air conditioners to drip onto our shoulders. Blessed art
thou, o God, creator of bicycles,
for the twenty-second of July, for on this day thou hast made
an excellent heat, and the reek of rot; blessed, for the work
of thy human hands.
