Ruth Housman

 

so everywhere and not

 

I am kissing you
imagining the you of air
the you of fire

in all the reaching hours
time rings eternal
hew of tree, hues of gold

when I am weeping
morning comes up black
with burnt tears

but I am often happy
more so, in the dream
of what could be

isn't that the way 
why  you can show
yourself, bold and brassy

or hide in a beggar's open
hand, alms for the poor
au coin, rounding the corner

I have caught on to your
cloaked tales
this,  a game of hide and seek

 

 the camps

for I remember the rain
how could I forget the rain?

a little soap goes a long way
we bartered all we had for soap
and   sun
just to stand there in rotted shoes
reaching for a ray
yearning for rain

we were ashamed 
dirt lodged in our fingernails
lice built castles in our hair
our eyes were hollows
for dreams to die

I departed a long time ago
driven through the howling wind
past the barbed wire cages that encircled us
over fields where wheat still grew
past houses where children still laughed   
when the rains came we opened our mouths
raised our arms in ecstasy, as if salvation were on its way
sang lost songs, vessels to these parched souls
before they, too, were gone

a million different kinds of rain
I loved them all

 

 

Ruth Housman is a Boston-based psychiatric social worker with a passion for the stories we tell. She is currently working with a non profit, One Stage Productions, writing, and directing plays with children to enhance and build self esteem with focus on bullying. Her interests have brought her to adult learning programs, teaching from an eclectic palette of subjects including Jewish mysticism and the Christian mystics. She writes extensively about the power of words to effect change, and particularly the power of the aleph bet and sacred alphabets around the world.