were they singing - JoAnn Smith

[Larry Robinson]

were they singing

were they 
singing, praying, daydreaming
was the Rabbi droning on
maybe they were sleeping
I used to fall asleep in church

the embrace of shabes peace 
brought them to the shul that day
where unsuspected terror struck

senseless serial assaults  
spike my blood pressure
even evoke a momentary outrage 
then fade
often before the next news cycle begins

this one 
threatens my balance
spinning dizzy falling 
on my knees immobile 
stuck in centuries old tear soaked mud
not ready to resurrect

what is this sorrow
I am not a Jew
what is this compulsion to 
tightly hold this pain 
as if letting go would shatter a trust
but with whom

tomorrow 
time 
the grand arbiter 
may work its magic 
begin to crowd out
yesterday’s biddings

but today 
aware the sound of breaking glass
has never cost me more than 
just an inconvenience 
today 
eighty years since Kristallnacht 
today I am a Jew

	- JoAnn Smith