A Literary Magazine in Support of the Jewish Community
A House Made Out of Words
"I lived in the first century of world wars."
—Muriel Rukeyser
I live in the second century of world wars.
Most days I’m more or less insane.
My therapist cannot comfort me.
She, too, is more or less insane.
Corpses of children lie in the unforgiving
sun of the middle east.
There’s no solace in dreams of the past.
Awful patterns come round again.
I came of age, a post war baby boomer,
a Jew in the Golden Medina, grandchild
of immigrants from Eastern Europe.
My father served in the Second World War.
In college, I studied history, pogroms,
death camps, believed history was
what happened to someone else, that
I could live outside of it. I was wrong.
I live in the second century of world wars.
During the day, I listen to 70s rock as I tidy
our home, try to make daily life a work of art.
The wind and rain howl outside my windows.
The river is a frenzy of waves. Sometimes,
I build delicate houses made of words that
cannot withstand the wind. I live in the second
century of world wars.
Dana Robbins
After a long career as an attorney, Dana Robbins earned an MFA in Creative Writing. She is the author of three books of poetry: The Left Side of My Life (Moon Pie Press, 2015), After the Parade (Moon Pie Press, 2020), and Fridas Boots (Moon Pie Press, 2022). Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. You can find out more at danamartinerobbins.com.
