October 2023
Love Letters to a Dying World
For Pope Francis
For years, he had been sending love letters
to his sisters and brothers on this “suffering
planet” warning about the coming disaster,
greenwashed by climate deniers, “bad … Read more
Simchat Torah, 5784
On Simchat Torah, we wound the scroll,
four handles between us all
to bear the fallen stone of our story
back to its origin—back to its place
of honour—like … Read more
Preservation
The images stand between him and the rest of a life
that began again in the long crossing.
On the edge of a pit, he starts snapping heirlooms.
I … Read more
I Do Not Have an Alcohol Problem
The big hand of time travels
in a circle, your mother’s
voice coming back to you:
Messa a fuoco, Rudolph.
Don’t follow your father through
the broken window.
Strange … Read more
The Last Time I Saw Tel Aviv
The young men and women looked lean and strong
riding together on e-scooters.
Standing close on e-scooters, like spooning lovers, weaving
through traffic. No need to hunt for parking … Read more
Writing About War
Everyone is Writing About War
About the arbitrariness of it—
the innocents killed or displaced
by angry men,
and make no mistake, these are men,
even the men who … Read more
During the end of days
there will be horses herds
and herds of horses
turquoise streaks
flickering across the valley
like ghost riders
their fog breath
shattering … Read more
Accounting
No need to count the dead in Gaza,
their dead are just a number,
a vague number,
if that.
In Ukraine, we know the numbers,
precise, not vague,
in … Read more
Red Raining Over Israel
Violence ringing out like a stray bullet
Killing everything it touches dead
As babies are beheaded in front
of their beaten and whimpering parents
And elderly people are kidnapped
It … Read more
The Smallest Victim
Hipochryfa’s hankie
Trampled in the mud.
But she can’t move on
Through the ever-flowing present
Spewed into a full-stop
By the roaring flood.
And they all told her,
Stop … Read more
State of a Union
An Abecedarian in Support of Labor
almost instantaneously, anchors across the nation
broadcast updates as Biden, in a UAW baseball
cap, walks the picket line to
demonstrate solidarity with labor … Read more