Matthue Roth in Action

Matthue Roth is a vegetarian but still thinks his grandmothers chicken soup smells good. He lives in New York, where he works as a performance poet. He’s written and photocopied about a million zines, including Avant February, and novels Yom Kippur a Go Go, Never Mind The Goldbergs, and Candy in Action. Matthue will be performing poetry on Sunday’s Festival Acoustic Stage in between amazing acts like Adam Weinberg and Guests, and Chana Rothman. Matthue is also a member of ROI, is a diverse community of young Jewish innovators and leaders from around the world, established by the Center For Leadership Initiatives. The CLI’s very own Elias Parker will also be at the Festival discussing Jewish innovation on own of our special panel discussions. Of course if you do not have tickets—you will not get to see Matthue perform. Tickets are online at JewliciousFestivals.com

I tried to paint the sky my own colors
when I was five
I took a ladder, bucket, brush,
and magic markers
just in case

I almost got to the top,
my body barely as big as the rungs
before my father came and
carried me down to the earth. In
Hebrew school that week
we learned how G-d made a
separation between dirt and sky

but I never stopped trying
to break it.

Later I learned how to break rules
and still later, I learned how to follow them
I ran with the midnight graffiti gangs
who always stop on red

cause when you look legit,
the cops stop watching
I got to the point where
the only rules I followed
were the rules I cared about

and that, I want to tell you,
is how I found G-d.

because I was the baddest
in my kindergarten class
askin’ the rabbis all the godless questions
closer to the ground
than the kids from the suburbs
I worked every day since I was 12
and on Sundays, I stole money for lunch
In high school we smoked cloves on the balcony
and ashed on the football team downstairs

and I never found G-d
I just ran out of excuses not to

and everything that seemed
like a good idea
at the time
stopped seeming like a good idea.