A Literary Magazine in Support of the Jewish Community
Shelter
—after Paul Celan
In dark, the alarm.
We rise in shadows, head out
to the world’s tides and highways
filled with snarls, with needs.
I whisper hashkiveinu,
night prayer for protection.
Is it evening…morning? No matter.
Who sleeps soundly these days?
Hashiveinu round the clock
when planes collide over cities,
when drought, when war,
when cruel leaders…
Once I imagined massive wings
like nimbus clouds arriving after drought—
a child’s dream of shelter.
I still try to imagine a sky
filled with light and feathers.
Why not shelter each other?
Or sense a great love
we might offer?
Cathleen Cohen
Cathleen Cohen was the 2019 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, PA. She created the We the Poets program for children at ArtWell and has taught students and educators in the USA and Israel. She teaches poetry and painting to adults through local venues, including Ritualwell. Her poems appear in literary journals and four collections: Camera Obscura (Moonstone Press, 2017), Etching the Ghost (Atmosphere Press, 2021), Sparks and Disperses (Cornerstone Press, 2021), and Murmurations (Moonstone Press, 2024). You can find out more at cathleencohenart.com.
