Wartime Multiverse - Daniella Levy

[Lawrence Robinson]

Wartime Multiverse

On the first plane of existence
My 3-year-old daughter
Pulls my sheet over our heads
And giggles that someone is coming
And we need to hide.

On the second plane of existence
I am under a bed, motionless
While glass crunches under heavy boots
And bullets spray the walls of our safe room

On the third and fourth planes--
Same scene, different century.
In one I am my great-great-grandmother
Under a mattress in Odessa.
In the other I am setting a basket
Adrift on the Nile.

On the fifth plane I am on a work call,
And we're talking about conversion rates
And my colleague's voice breaks
And on the sixth, I am watching Netflix
And my parents send me a bomb shelter selfie

On the seventh, I am pouring coffee
And I'm wondering if the bamboo
Covering our neighbor's patio
Would take our weight
If we needed to get out that window,
And on the eighth, I'm in a shooting range,
And the instructor is saying
To aim for the center of mass

And on the ninth plane of existence,
I shut my eyes as the planes roar over Gaza
Drowning out the muezzin
And I hug my children and wonder
If we'll survive this time

And on the tenth,
I am in a tunnel underground
Staring down the barrel of an AK-47
Holding a crying child who isn't mine
And the entire world shudders
And I can't decide whether I want it all to collapse
Or not, because she might have a mother to return to

And on the eleventh, I am folding shirts,
And wondering if I could still shield
My sons' bodies with my own
Even though they are taller than me

And on the twelfth, 
We are out of milk and I am wondering
What to say to a friend
Whose husband doesn't come home.

But
Right here,
Right now,
The light glows orange
Over the hills of Bethlehem,
And it is almost time
To light the candles.

	- Daniella Levy