The Jew in my heart does not like vacations
for who will redeem
the sufferings of our brethren
while I ponder the slate crystal of the waves?
Six million molecules
break against the shore;
not one misses its appointed fate.
I’d rather worship the crimson lips
of a young boy reciting Torah
his side curls twined like this tropical vine,
his voice the golden plover’s cry.
Roberta Feins received her MFA in Poetry in 2007 from New England College. Her poems have been published in Five AM, Antioch Review, The Cortland Review and The Gettysburg Review, among others. Her chapbook Something Like a River was published by Moon Path Press in 2013. Roberta edits the e-zine Switched On Gutenberg (switched-ongutenberg.org).
A Quiet Courage 