Manna From Heaven

With every breath,
with every taste,
with all my senses,
gratitude I have and give thanks
as I discover miracles
waiting for me this morning.
I laugh with glee
as I find Your babies
in Your magical garden that I tend.

Your treasures are strange:
firm, shiny, smooth, thick-shelled
Purple Passion Fruits.
Their ripened, wrinkled, rumpled rinds, deflating
from the dense leafy tendrilled vines
thirty feet wide and my height,
fallen to the ground!

I bend, praise You, lower my knees,
drop to the earth
to gather the precious, egg-shaped bounty, protecting
intensely tart tasting, succulent,
transparent, glowing golden sacs, placentas.
Each envelops a small, crunchy black seed.
Hundreds matured, concealed
and encased in a cavity.
Each attached via 'umbilical cords,'
threads, to tissue-thin white membrane
lining the womb.

With care, drops of juice should not spill,
I quickly cut open one rounded passion fruit
revealed for my pleasure.
I make the bracha [blessing].
I ingest the blessings from You, Giver of Life,
this summer season.
Manna from heaven.

My body and soul are nourished and replenished.
Delighted with all, I rejoice,
savor the delicious beauty of Divinity,
G*d's glory and goodness,
exquisite fragrant fruit of Your healthy vines and trees.

Clustered all the way from Gan Eden
beneath giant green leaves,
Figs, when plucked,
exude irritating white sap.
Tender, large, luscious, plump, purple, fresh figs,
symbol of Torah
birthed to enjoy through and through.
In bliss, I lift each sweet sensuous one
up to You.

Figs on the tree, I bequeath
for G-d's other creatures,
as Boaz did for Ruth, the Moabitess,
to glean and feast in joy.
We taste the mysterious, mystical treasure,
delicate, dry skin and moist flesh,
ripe, bursting forth magenta insides,
awesome to behold, satisfied
I release from the fruit
Holy sparks of life.
I can feel them twinkle
in my mouth and travel within me.

The blesSings of Your Passion and Fig,
I share today with a kallah and chatan [bride and groom]
under their chuppah [wedding canopy].

I love You, Creator of Life. Thank You. Thank You for your gifts.