The Thin Slice of Me That is Jewish
wants to rip at my tee-shirt—
scream kaddish with a minyan
of 10 howling ghosts, claw
a nesting place beside
your bed to sit shiva.
Do a mitzvah for each
and every soul who
covers my quaking
heart with soft
winding
sheets.
18 thoughts on "The Thin Slice of Me That is Jewish"
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Okay, damn, Roberta!
Can’t quote a line or phrase.
Love them all!
Gorgeous, Roberta. I’m not the slightest bit Jewish, as far as I know, but this poem makes me wish I were.
Thanks for the comments, friends. I commence yowling. 🙂
I feel your grief.
Oh, yowl away, Roberta! We are ready to listen!
Grief settles in a nest. Take care, friend.
“10 howling ghosts, claw” … oh yes!
Powerful, love how the lines shorten as the poem progresses, stripped down to the essential.
Now THAT is what I call a minyan.
I want sit with you, in a screaming silence of love and heartbreak that follows your poem. ❤️
Agree with Joseph re quoting all the lines.
And like Fanny, ‘I want sit with you, in a screaming silence of love and heartbreak.”
Take good care.
This poem inspires me to yowl with you.
Inspiring, beautiful, sad, longing, informative, I’m here for it!
So good to see you here again, Roberta! I want to steal your bio.
Yes, I want to both listen to your yowling, and yowl with you.
I meant to say “I want to steal your reason for signing up”
For some reason the site now reads that my reason for signing up is my email. 🙂
Thanks so much for your loving comments!
So glad you have this space to explore that grief. As always, your verbs pack a punch.