by Miriam Flock (Palo Alto, CA)
His thigh thrown over mine,
my head nestled against his clavicle—
for thirty years, my husband never guessed
as he embraced me before sleep
that I was praying: a hymn to that good Lord
who forms our souls, pairs us in the ether,
then hurls us into life, solitary
until we recognize each other
in the college cafeteria. Thank God,
I say into my husband’s chest,
his heart singing me to sleep.
Miriam’s work has previously been published in Poetry, Berru, Salmagundi, CCAR, and other journals. She was the winner of the 2019 Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award for poems on the Jewish experience. Her chapbook, “The Scientist’s Wife,” was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021.
The Jewish Writing Project 