The Name of G-d is a Four Letter Word

The Tetragrammaton, HaShem, we are told, is unpronounceable.

This simple jot and tittle of the scribe’s tool is undestroyable.

Deeper meanings held within are indiscernible,

The power it wields proves indefatigable.

The ‘yud’ a flaming apostrophe: a pos(itive) trophy, tiny skull balanced atop a meager frame;

The ‘hey’ with its pronounced clavicle and skinny arms limply hanging off a slanted shrug;

The ‘vav’ a long straight spine, narrow and sturdy and penetrating like a taproot;

The final ‘hey’ defined by a sassy skew-hipped attitude stance.

The Name revealed only to Moses and the High Priest,

Spoken only on the Highest of Holy Days, only in the Holy of Holies,

And then only with a rope tied around the Kohen’s waist, in case of emergency

So those awaiting his reappearance could heave him out should something go awry.

Like the rest of the Torah, the letters themselves are lifeless

Until they are spoken aloud, silent and powerless until given voice.

And there is no record of the correct pronunciation

Save for all that has been

                                    and is now

                                                and will be.

~Andrine de la Rocha