I LEFT BEHIND THE NAMELESS AUTHORS’ BODIES

by Michal Rubin

Israeli demonstrators hold an anti-war protest on Feb. 27 in Tel Aviv, Israel, with signs that say 30,000 to signify the Palestinian death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7. Maya Levin for NPR

Seeking refuge from earth
where the tree of knowledge died
I walked into the moon stripped [off] the uniform

words that lied
oozing blisters

rubbing against the craters
filled with

23,968 stories

27,733 stories

30,035 stories

Michal Rubin is an Israeli, living in Columbia, SC. The impetus for her writing came from the years-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a psychotherapist, a Cantor and a poet, she brings forth the challenge of distinguishing truths from myths, awareness vs. denial, conformity vs. individuation. Her work was published in Psychotic Education,  The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, Wrath Bearing Tree journal,  Rise Up Journal, Topical Poetry,  Fall-Lines,  The Last Stanza Poetry Journal, Waxing & Waning: A Literary Journal,  South Carolina Bards Poetry Anthology 2023, Palestine-Israel Journal, and a chapbook published by Cathexis Northwest Press.