on fire for 298 days and still
she is standing. The streets
are dim but snow floats
like summer fireflies. In Odesa,
I hear the people gather
to watch a man-sized menorahThe seeven-branched menorah stood in the Temple, and many present-day synagogues feature the menorah. Titus' arch depicts the Romans' sacking of the Temple and theft of the menorah. A nine-branched menorah called a Hanukkiyah is lit on Hanukkah to symbolize the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days.
ignite the public dark. In my
Papa’s home, war won’t stop
celebration. On the land
we were forbidden to light
candles, they now burn
under rocket-fire. The Jews
still Jews, but now Ukrainian,
they can be Jewish, beyond
the skin and nose they can
glow in a dark where everyone’s
afraid the sky will fall and grateful
when another morning comes.
