by Anne Myles
–in the wake of Hurricane Helene, 2024
In her Erev Rosh Hashanah sermon
the new rabbi speaks of hope:
in Hebrew, the word is tikvah
which signifies a cord or rope
It shares a root with mikveh—
the ritual bath, the natural water
through which we are purified
So we must hold fast to it,
she says, so we must allow ourselves
to be immersed
A few days ago, a few hours away,
an old man clung to a tree
as the river tried to swallow him
His family heard his cries for help
listening hour after hour
but no one could reach him—
no way to wade out in it
to run a boat, to fling a line
across the merciless torrent—
until at last the roaring water
was the only sound left
What new year is this—
shofar blasting like a siren
in a world turning to wrack
The swollen river of destruction
so near now I can’t dream
it only comes for others
Here in my fragile house—
a little rain, a little wind,
a little unearned blessing—
I send money for relief
then head back to the synagogue
for the morning service
All day wrestling with hope
All day the calling and calling back
All day asked to wonder
who shall live and who shall die
Have I gone in the river
before the river came for me
Have I readied myself to be swept
feeling utterly alone
Or do I stand on shore
as powerless as any of us
here among my people
who wish each other sweetness
who share each other’s grief
now as throughout time—
To expect To wait for
To wait upon To gather
To bind by twisting together
::
Anne Myles is the author of Late Epistle, winner of Sappho’s Prize in Poetry (Headmistress Press, 2023), and What Woman That Was: Poems for Mary Dyer (Final Thursday Press, 2022). Her work has appeared in journals including North American Review, On the Seawall, Whale Road Review, Lavender Review, River Heron Review, and JUDITH, and been nominated for multiple Pushcart awards. She is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Northern Iowa and holds a PhD from the University of Chicago, and an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Raised in Manhattan and New York’s Hudson Valley, she presently lives in Greensboro, NC.
Image: Saskia van Manen
ID: a gray and white photograph of coiled rope.
Psaltery & Lyre 