A Literary Magazine in Support of the Jewish Community

Back to Issue Twelve

 

"The Inner World of the Cabbage" by Michael Getty

The Inner World of the Cabbage

                                             It’s easy to forget about the inner world of the cabbage

                                all those

elbows and knees packed tight

       helixed like a dozen rabbis reading from the same scroll and arguing

                        — of course they are arguing —

                        about prophecy and foreskins

                                                       talking clouds

                                                          dancing icons

                                                                          and they scarcely notice the bunching up

                                                            until a kiss ensues between Miriam and Hagar

                                    and before they realize what is happening Tamar and Rebecca

                            are at the well      comparing notes on their husbands

and the holy men fall over each other

                   and the scribes spin in their crumpled graves

                           and in the churn, a smoothing out happens

                                                                            beautiful in the way of unplanned things

                                                                                                              and — lo! — new

                                                                                                         chapters unfurl

the snake’s unpublished novel

home remedies for leprosy

men who lie with men setting the record straight

and no one had any idea they were there

                                                                                                   that’s how tightly folded

                                                                                          they have been

                                                                                 this whole time

Michael Getty

Michael Getty is a writer who lives with his husband in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work has appeared in publications such as A Poet's Siddur, Tiferet Journal, and Typishly Literary Magazine.

 

 

Michael Getty