Our Weeks

“for wherever thou goest, I will go…” (Ruth 1:16)

And how, when I am made of pain and tears,
Will you hold me with your hugs,
Keep me with your kisses,
Store, in me, our summers,
And place, in me, the prophesy of better days?

And how will you walk with me,
Accompany the story of my sobs.
Offer friendship,
Share your love,
Hold our hope,
And imagine
recovery?

Shir

“Draw me after you, let us run!” (Song of Songs 1:4)

At night,
I return to Egypt-
my back remembers the heaviness of bricks,
my belly remembers the gnawing of hunger,
my feet remember running toward the Sea,
my hands hold half-baked bread,
my throat tightens with terror.
Every night
Pharoh’s rumbling chariots chase me
getting closer and closer
until I awake
and you are holding me,
taking me out of Egypt.
Your love leads me away
from my loss,
frees me from
my fears.

Tamar Stern is a child therapist. She has been published in “The Jewish Literary Journal,” “Poetica,” “Kerem,” “The Healing Muse,” and “Ritualwell.org.” She has published “Beauty and Blessing: Art and Poetry Inspired by the Jewish Year.”