Did you really even care
If Bashevkin
Was not there?
Does it bother you to think
Would you write and waste your ink?
If something were to disappear?
A Yated staple
Was not there?
How about a man who left the shul?
A little boy who’s not in school?
Will they be missed
If they’re not there?
Do you even slightly quiver?
If the mail fails to deliver
If a guest arrives quite late
Past what you’d anticipate?
What about the daily things
The sun that shines
The bird that sings?
What would you think
What would you say
If they were gone
For just a day?
The little things we take for granted
Seed should grow
If they are planted
Mothers come when babies cry
Naturally, we don’t ask, “Why?”
But days to come when all does cease
And silent sorrow breaks the peace
The world moves forward
On and on
Does not stop
When one is gone
The sun still shines
The rains do pour
The poor get less
The rich get more
Life’s but a
Revolving door
And so Bashevkin
Failed to rhyme
A subtle absence
So sublime
Did you wonder where he went?
Why his lyrics were not sent?
Was it just a way to vent?
Perhaps a stifling event?
Today the poet’s back in school
The lyricist is back in shul
And poems in Yated’s magazine
Are once again fine
And pristine
You ponder: What
Did this all mean?