In the Ten Days of Teshuvah: Introducing the Poetry of Sharon Dolin

How strange to enter these Days of Awe, days that are usually so very personal as we look inward with remorse, but instead this year to find ourselves in the midst of war, facing antisemitism all over the world and running to shelters and safe spaces in Israel. As we ask ourselves, Have I been my best self? What have I done, really done for others, for myself, for my community?, we are commemorating one year since the October 7th attack, the worst pogrom against Jews since the Second World War. Our universe is melting into a history lesson retold into modern times. What is it we need to throw into the waters of Tashlich this year? How are we able to hold all of it: the fear, the anxiety, the grief and yes, the hope? The answer: poetry.

How lucky for us all that I received in my inbox these three remarkable poems by the lauded poet and translator, Sharon Dolin. Like so many poems of witness, Dolin’s work captures and reflects this moment as they vocalize our inner torment and reach out not only to the Other (be it God or something else) but also to our deepest selves.

May the page we turn in this New Year 5785 be the page that turns away from “bullet” mentality—that strength can be found in whomever holds the biggest gun. May we see an end to this terrible, endless war. May we find, in Dolin’s words, the “powerslam” to “change tactics” and be, really be, the people who bring peace.

From My Straits
	         after Psalm 118

From my narrows from my depths
	from my dark sea within 
From my midnight cry 
	from my solitary moan
From my pre-dawn dire 
	from my afternoon doom
I call out to you—will you hasten to my side?
	Will you uplift me?
From my aching head, from my aging heart
	from my drooping throat
I beseech you: please bathe me 
	in your healing waters
All my woes have beset me. They eat away
	at my soul  
Will you release me from myself? 
	Will you set this captive free?
My enemies lie within
	they have besieged me like stinging flies
Will you come like a sandstorm 
	and destroy them?
Let me thrive to sing: God is my warrior
	my faith is her shield
Let my barren branch flower
	like Aaron's rod
Oh set me on the highest place
	fly me to your aerie
That I may proclaim your glory: 
	Holy, holy, holy! 

From The Mareva and Arthur Essebag exhibit commemorating the October 7th attack at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

There's a Blaze of Light in Every Word
		                                    —Leonard Cohen

Sometimes words turn intermittent 
	faint as firefly light. Today 
	under a fever-cloud: words

that used to blaze out—lightening-
	struck tree in front of me, 
	5 am lightning on the sea's horizon 
 
that woke me—words that used to sear me
	open shut tight as a seamless pistachio. 
	Now orange-green swirls on a passing

pair of pants, trumpet outside 
	my window soloing Take a sad song 
	and make it better rouse me while

words lie inert. No light in me to inspirit 
	them with sparks. My sky, dark.  

^“ And he did great signs, so that he made also fire to come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men.” The Book of Revelation (13:13). The Iranian missile attack on Israel, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Anxiety 
	
Let's face
it, you erase
composure so I'm pent
up: pace, fret, my mind impotent
to calm your vagaries, cool your antic
dance inside me. I become even more frantic
until I dunk myself in the lake, swim out to the dam
and back again to escape (futilely) your powerslam.
Why not change tactics, instead of battling you, mete
out your praise—harness my fidgets—entreat
my thoughts that jitter—teem manic—
to embrace, friend panic:
ride this setback
bareback.

Sharon Dolin is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently Imperfect Present; a memoir entitled Hitchcock Blonde; and two books of translation, most recently Late to the House of Words: Selected Poems by Gemma, winner of the Malinda A. Markham Translation Prize from Saturnalia Books and finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Dolin is Associate Editor of Barrow Street Press and teaches poetry workshops in New York City. More at https://sharondolin.com.

Links to Dolin’s books:

Imperfect Present: https://bookshop.org/p/books/imperfect-present-poems-sharon-dolin/17367497?ean=9780822966876

Manual for Living: https://bookshop.org/p/books/manual-for-living-sharon-dolin/9728650?ean=9780822964063

Late to the House of Words: Selected Poems by Gemma Gorga, trans. Sharon Dolin: https://bookshop.org/p/books/late-to-the-house-of-words-selected-poems-of-gemma-gorga-gemma-gorga/17736085?ean=9781947817340

And some interview questions for Sharon:

What are five tiny delights that lift your spirits and make you happy?

1. My dog at rest with a sliver of tongue jutting out between his teeth.

2. Walking in Riverside Park each morning among the trees.

3. Dark, dark chocolate.

4. Wearing orange or red.

5. Swimming.

What are five tiny JEWISH delights that lift your spirits and make you happy?

1. Shabbos candle flames.

2. Wearing my tallit with its gold spirals.

3. Singing in unison with others during Friday Night Services.

4. Singing modah ani in the park.

5. Saying the Shehecheyanu prayer when I experience something new.