Ani Ma’amin – a poem for Yom HaShoah

I believe

my wife’s grandfather was a hero.
Born in a place where they put up walls

to contain people just like him.
Built a statue in Philadelphia

to commemorate how those walls
were torn down.

Three generations of people
called him Zeydi.

with perfect faith

as if anything could accurately
be described as perfect.

as if we all have a handle
on faith.

as if someone didn’t once
march to their death

with their faith, un-wavered
powerful on their face.

in the coming of the Messiah

which is why my pockets
always have coins in them

in case he or she shows up
and needs help buying a beverage

after the long journey. Which is why
every person I meet deserves

to be treated like they
may be the one.

You never know when the Messiah
is standing next to you in the elevator.

and despite the delay

which is excruciating to tolerate
in our new world where if a delivery

doesn’t come the same day we ordered
we’ve already failed.

where patience is no longer a word.
where some people waited

a lifetime to forget about the
numbers on their skin.

I will wait.

for that day
when we turn on the faucet

and freedom runs out.
where there is no drought

of tolerance. Where no-one
has to think of people in terms of millions.

I will wait.
I am waiting.

48 Poets from all over the world. remember the Holocaust in the Poetry Super Highay’s 18th annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) issue. Read it