Torah from Asher Hashash/Poem on Grief

The day after my mother

The day after my mother died

I cried the morning wet

Rain after

Air left my lungs

My years with her

Hanging in the trees

My sadness in the grass rising

I am alone and again

Without her

The embrace of tentacles strong and wild

Release me

Tangle my body

In this grave to bury

Behind the rocks imagine

Light danced in the corners

I looked

Earth in my nostrils

Perfume

This day One, my knees

I had been with her the years

My life

I am without her wisdom and confidence

Alone, my thoughts

Now as they were

Before

Air moves differently, in the morning