A Mother's Prayer
- A Mother's Prayer
Erev Rosh Hashanah my parentsjourneyed to Bubba and Zayde'sgraves traveling by trolley and bus,to pray.
Late afternoon, the sun fading,they returned, my mother red-eyed,solemn as they poured water— over one another's hands.
The splash on the sidewalk told me,soon she would kiss my headand wish me:"A gut gesint yohr mit mazel."Before silence heavy as her sighsfilled the room as she changed intoa cotton dress, pinned the cameoof her father to the bodice,and slowly walked— downstairs.to prepare dinner.
Erev: beforeA gut gesint yohr mit mazel: a good, healthy year with good fortune [End Page 115]
Shirley Adelman is a writer of poetry and creative non-fiction. Her work has been published in academic, literary, feminist and medical humanities journals in the United States, Canada and South Africa. Much of her work deals with issues of social justice, both historical and present. She is the mother of Haim and Rachel, and the grandmother of Maya and Avi, and of Zane of blessed memory.
