A Literary Magazine in Support of the Jewish Community
This Keening
Long ago, it’s said, the voices of
women raised standing stones,
menhirs, with their sorceries of
sound. Amazon remains show
women were once brawnier, bigger-boned.
Are our vocal cords now too slight
to vibrate at the frequency that compels even
stone to listen? Not since the Goddess of Peace
has a mourning mother’s keening inspired
warriors to lay down their swords.
If only she could bless us with a song, a dirge,
the throat that will halt bulldozers,
send soldiers home from checkpoints,
transform hearts and minds already so we can begin
forging a peace worthy of everyone. We
are, after all, One. You shake, I
quiver. Our lives interwoven even if we
don’t know we touch (and never meet). Let’s put down our
arms and sing—not with despair, but joy.
Joy Arbor
Joy Arbor is the author of the chapbook, Where Are You From, Originally? (Finishing Line Press, 2016). Her poems have won an Academy of American Poets Prize, been nominated for Best of the Net, and been anthologized in A Human Voice. She lives in Davis, California. Read more at joyarbor.net.
