If I had Reb Yoel's violin,
By Rose Lemberg

I'd take my grandfather's revolver away, and peel the red star from his soul, and wash the blood into this black and crying
earth

and I would fiddle for the ones that cannot speak, a four-step ladder up to the Garden

and I would play the melody to reb Yoel; when they were taking the Jews out of Lodz to Auschwitz, his soul had turned into a
thousand fireflies to light the way

and I would play to this white bird caged in my throat for so many years

she'd sing then
to you

Rose Lemberg's poems appeared in Apex, Goblin Fruit, Jabberwocky, and other venues, and have been nominated for the Rhysling Award. She recently won the Rannu competition with her long poem In the Third Cycle. Rose edits Stone Telling, a magazine of boundary-crossing poetry. Please visit her website, http://roselemberg.net, and her Livejournal blog.