My great-grandmother’s china cups
your grandmother’s candlesticks
my father’s thick Hebrew still echoing
your uncle’s declaration
my brother’s courage and
your sister’s declaration.
Back and forth the weaver’s shuttle flashes
drawing threads for the cloth.
My mother gardening with her G-d
the railroad hat your father wore
my grandfather exalting tolerance
dollar bill from your grandfather’s grocery.
All of the marriages, promises
all the lives and deaths behind us
all the way back to the Red Sea’s crossing
and all the children chanting now:
All of that love is woven into
the way the women dance.
your grandmother’s candlesticks
my father’s thick Hebrew still echoing
your uncle’s declaration
my brother’s courage and
your sister’s declaration.
Back and forth the weaver’s shuttle flashes
drawing threads for the cloth.
My mother gardening with her G-d
the railroad hat your father wore
my grandfather exalting tolerance
dollar bill from your grandfather’s grocery.
All of the marriages, promises
all the lives and deaths behind us
all the way back to the Red Sea’s crossing
and all the children chanting now:
All of that love is woven into
the way the women dance.
MiriamMiriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron. As Moses' and Aaron's sister she, according to midrash, prophesies Moses' role and helps secure it by watching over the young baby, seeing to it that Pharaoh's daughter takes him and that the baby is returned to his mother for nursing. During the Israelites' trek through the desert, a magical well given on her behalf travels with the Israelites, providing water, healing, and sustenance. dancing: art by the poet.
