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Vintage Judaica solid brass Weinberg dove bird Hanukkah menorah candlestick. |
hooked to curtains
mylar dreidels, menorahs
glitzy glitter star of David
dangles from the fireplace
the breakfast bar
covered in hanukkiah,
driedels and drip trays
crafted by my children
thirty years ago
they’re asking for a truce
just two more days, two more
three hostages have died
one is a ten-month-old
dreidels fill plates
in our living room
dining room and den
I can’t spin them
the nine-month-old hostage
has yet to be released
is that the same baby that died?
how do you spin that?
newlyweds return to the rubble
of their Gaza home
a box of wedding candy
the sole survivor of their stuff
One of my menorahs
takes the shape of a dove
I don’t know
I don’t know
I cannot recall
the candle blessing
but those images of Israel
of Gaza burn bright
Julie Standig, a lifetime New Yorker, now lives in Bucks County PA. She has been published in anthologies, online journals, and is the author of a chapbook, and full collection, The Forsaken Little Black Book. A long-time participate at the 92Y, she loves the writing community she has found in Bucks County.