A Stern Poet

Peering through the slit of a window screen The bustle calms me. I hate the quiet. Homesickness kicks in when I see mint tea You made it for me when I wasn’t healthy Leaving on a flight to Paris tonight Please don’t let go until I thank you, mom Prayed a whole plane ride to just have you, mom Begged G-d no tumor shows upon screening Sheild’s become what I'm protecting tonight A leader cancers silenced to quiet. Doctors know how to make people healthy Superwoman that saved me with tea You cured bald me with your kisses and tea Quitting is not in the skillset of moms Need you, you don’t need me. You’re my healthy Suburban girl kneels by her window screen  Talking to G-d in a rare quiet “Let abba see me marry in two nights” A train screeches on the train tracks tonight The sweet aroma of mint tea Two women sit together quietly One wishes for dad. Other yearns for mom A man talks of fixing his window screen ...

10 lb. 11 oz. Sumo wrestler's born. Russian women wont stop pinching my cheeks I turn 6 and am gifted piano lessons little fingers push keys. Always being pushed. For my 10th Birthday I receive a leotard Get a silver in gymanstics. Not gold. my 12th birthday present is thpeech therapy  Russian's pronounce words better than me For my 16th birthday I get a brand new nose. Family picture looks better that way My 20th Birthday I meet Andrew Mark Wildstein Get a treasure who loves sumo wrestlers He doesn't think I could get any better My 21st birthday he gifts a silver necklace saying he didn't know if I prefer gold I'm actually more a silver girl.

Clothes ripped off, all but what covers the collarbone and to the knee. Left hand taken My thoughts G-d forsaken Right hand feels attatched latched so that I could daven the Shema. Smokey eyeliner is smudged- Away. Eyes seized. Now all I see is G-d? Stethoscopes embezzled, traded for an apron  Israeli Independence Day, a devil just like me Fellow student, Malka must supervise me Its custom to sleep in skirts nightly I hear a girl scream. I think it’s in prayer. Malka's praying hard. no one finds out she is pregnant  Two weeks pass. She is no longer pregnant. She is still praying hard. I guess G-d whispered in her ear- "I take it back" What are you looking at? She snarks  Nothing. Remember I can no longer see.