Red Kippah

In my eye
at the intersection of envy
and disdain

red velvet sits 

clipped atop his equanimity, like a cherry 

It commands my fickle fascination.

Whether leopard print hijabs,
emerald turbans 

or golden rosary beads
the tug is the same

All religion is born of magnetic passion
pulling
even after I have strayed its orbit.

Badges of piety

how they grate me
yet I remain endeared

Appraising elegant tangles of theology

cleaving away bloated,

congealed rules:

The useful
the whimsical, the abhorrant

clumped together

Underneath are modest bones
creaking under the weight of scrutiny.

The ligaments:

pride

purpose
protection

identification
with something grand
making sense of the madness.

I reason,
we must cling to something
might as well be tradition.