The following piece was originally published in the author’s poetry chapbook, To Set Right
Moss grows on matzeva
as I set out
to meet unlikely friends
like pincushions in tailor shops
Twilight. Fireflies wink in the ghetto fieldas I set out
to meet unlikely friends
second-growth ghosts
within and without the cemetery gates.
I take leave of the seder table,
where the Haggadah is read like stale crumbs,
to walk among my real family.
In the dark distances shrink.
Unclear words flung like books
land before me on cobblestones
amid rustling skirts and heels.
Unclear words flung like books
land before me on cobblestones
amid rustling skirts and heels.
Who will meet me at the threshold?
How will I make myself known?
How will I make myself known?
Inscriptions in Hebrew
that I cannot read.
Son of Cwi and Nacha
daughter of Jakob and Malka
partitioned by gender
engraved birth and death years
some embroidered with palms and. stars
burning candles or rows of books.
that I cannot read.
Son of Cwi and Nacha
daughter of Jakob and Malka
partitioned by gender
engraved birth and death years
some embroidered with palms and. stars
burning candles or rows of books.
I raise my glass dip my finger in wine
remove, drip by bloody drip,
the ancient plagues
onto my dinner plate.
Do pastoral aprons bind us still
to unfinished chores and inward-facing courtyards?
Each sip of wine Baruch atah thimblefuls of memory.
How to reconnect to this land of milking and murder?
Measure the lichen — indicator of good health, blessings.
Measure the wind in the field
Measure the lichen — indicator of good health, blessings.
Measure the wind in the field
like a needle coursing through silk.
I run my fingers over the tablecloth hem.Why is this night different from all other nights?
A final scene with no verbs. I find myself
in the cold sowing seeds
placing stones
in the cold sowing seeds
placing stones
like buttons whispering
in that haunted language so I can reconcile
parents with children and children with parents
be my grandfather’s emissary.
My brother-in-law reads the Hebrew.
Someone asks in English,
Who will open the door for Elijah?
Someone asks in English,
Who will open the door for Elijah?
No one notices
that I’ve already
that I’ve already
let in the ghosts.
