I keep whispering it to myself:
The fruit cooked on the trees
Raspberries turned to jam on their bushes
Blueberries shriveled like an old woman’s nipples
The maples’ western facing leaves browned
Even though it was only June
I keep saying it to you:
We have to get a generator
I don’t want to live so far from the people I love
I don’t want to leave you to teach across the country
I keep walking in a small circle in my mind:
What if something happens
The heat dome the smoke
The children unprotected by their cloth masks
We have to keep living as the next round of fruit
Now begins to grow back
Regular and ripe
As if the heat dome
Were a dream
As if we had not signed
The apocalypse papers
Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher whose work explores the place where ancient Jewish traditions meet contemporary life. She is the creator of Girls in Trouble, an indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah; the independent feature film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff; two award-winning poetry collections, Divinity School and Fruit Geode, and she is currently at work on a spiritual memoir. Visit her at www.ahttp://www.aliciajo.com/liciajo.com.
Photo credit: Aaron Hartman