by Judith R. Robinson (Pittsburgh, PA)
eleven tolling
orchestral bells
as Elgar tries
with eloquence
to grieve like a Jew
but the cello cries out
O God not again
as I do each New Year
for Akiva for Masada
for the executed
piled deep in pits
at Belarus and Rawa Ruska
for Chelm, Lelow, for Telz,
for the hundreds of shtetls
for Sobibor for Belzec
for the dozens of camps
my people incinerated ghosts
ash in the soil of Europe
O God, now for Pittsburgh
my city in America
for friends I knew
the freshest blood
for the Rosenthal boys
for the other innocents
the eleven souls praying
in the synagogue
for the eleven new dead.
*dedicated to the victims of the Tree of Life massacre, October 27, 2018
Judith R. Robinson is an editor, teacher, fiction writer, poet and visual artist. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, she is listed in the Directory of American Poets and Writers. She has published 100+ poems, five poetry collections, one fiction collection; one novel; edited or co-edited eleven poetry collections. To learn more about her and her work, visit her website: www.judithrrobinson.com
Author’s note: The poem (and the painting which inspired the poem) are part of the permanent collection of the Rauh Jewish Archives at The John J. Heinz History Center of Pittsburgh. PA. Regarding the reference to Elgar, he was Sir Edward Elgar, a British composer who wrote some very moving, very sad music, such as the Cello Concerto in A minor, which is considered a masterful expression of grief, hence my reference to him as “grieving like a Jew.” Here’s a link to the Center if you’d like to browse through its collection: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/research/rauh-jewish-history-program-archives/
