A Literary Magazine in Support of the Jewish Community
The World to Come
Not as many people come for the belly
lox any more. Only the older ones, Polish maybe,
sometimes. Carmen, who has been slicing fish
for over 30 years, is kind enough to only imply
loss. Perhaps they moved away. For a moment,
our minds snowbird to retirement communities
in Florida, conversations on verandas, accents
seeding the humid air. The refrigerators hum:
a row of whitefish salad, pickled herring, eyes
like black rimmed plates clinging to a sable’s
wrinkled side. For some, the afterlife is a gathering,
a line down the block, or the schnorrer scraping
the last of the cream cheese from the tub. Carmen
gives us extra slices, coral folds in small piles,
their salt drawing out the sweetness from our tongues.
Jared Beloff
Jared Beloff is the author of Who Will Cradle Your Head (ELJ Editions, 2023). He is the editor of the Marvel inspired poetry anthology, Marvelous Verses (Daily Drunk, 2021) and has been a peer-reviewer for Whale Road Review since 2021. His work can be found at Night Heron Barks, Barren Magazine, River Mouth Review, The Shore, Contrary, and elsewhere. You can find him on Twitter @Read_Instead and www.jaredbeloff.com. He is a teacher who lives in Queens, NY with his wife and two daughters.
