You, Beauty

Breakfast in Gloucester

Today’s breakfast is a love story with the entire world. We are celebrating reunion. My tears spill with a deep sense of relief to see the images of the first Israeli hostage reunited with his beloved. Over breakfast with my fellow writer and friend, Donna, at Eliot House, we celebrate. We sing in whispers so as not to awaken others and say the Shehehianu prayer, thanking G-d for bringing us to this day.

I am deeply moved that two friends who are not Jewish have written to me, to share their emotions and to celebrate with me. I eagerly await the shipments of food and supplies to Gaza and hope for the release of Palestinians as well, which remain to be seen at the time of this writing.

My time writing at Eliot House has been powerful and I have revised many poems and written several others. One of the powerful moments of the retreat here in Gloucester has been watching the poet and icon Jane Hirschfield read her poems to a group of 300 people on Zoom. When asked how she maintains her sense of hope, she said something very powerful:

“When I wake up, I say ‘You, Beauty’ to the first thing I see, and a prayer for gratitude.” The first thing I saw today was the video of a freed hostage embracing his Beloved.

 “You, Beauty”