Eye Mask
In this dark I rest,
unready for the light which dawns
day after day,
eager to be shared.
Black silk, shelter me.
I need more of the night
before I open eyes and heart
to illumination. I must still
grow in the dark like a root
not ready, not ready at all.
By Denise Levertov
Czeslaw Milosz, A Book of Luminous Things
Baruch Ata Adonai Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam a-sher ke-d-sha-nu b- mitz-vo-tav, v-tzi-va-nu al s-fi-rat ha-omer.
Praised be you Adonai our God who rules the Universe instilling within us the holiness of mitzvot by commanding us to count the Omer.
Today is the twenty-third day of the Omer.