Voice of Stillness
At first I talked
Accidentally too loud
Intentionally quiet
Rapid then slow then
When you spoke your
Nonsense I guessed
More often than not
I gave up understanding
And then I spoke more
Harder, into your silence
Filling your loss of words
With nonsense of my own
Until I ran out and
One day I simply laid
My head on your shoulder
And was silent and felt
Warmth flow between us
Kol d’mama daka
The voice of stillness
Binding us together
Copyright 2016, Sarah Niebuhr Rubin.
Originally printed in the Piyyutim book, a booklet of poetry and art, at Congregation Beth Shalom, High Holidays 2016.