I hear
God’s Absence everywhere I go,
As one might hear the ocean
Upon lifting a conch shell to his ear.

But in this cavernous,
Hollow shell, perhaps
It is only this ring
Of phantom rush, of raging waves
That we can still call holy.

Spencer Szwalbenest currently works in academic publishing and is an alum of List College of Judaic Studies. They have previously published in The Jewish Literary Journal, as well as Surgam, and Columbia University’s The Current. In their spare time, Spencer teaches Hebrew school and participates in too many book clubs.