Incantations
A poem by Leenoy Margalit.
I don’t remember my grandmother
before she lost her teeth
before she lost the hair under her headscarf
before she lost all of her words
when I remind her my name it is
because I am afraid she has lost this too
maybe when she left
the first place she ever called home
my mother's mother's mother tongue
never quite made it to shore
perhaps it is still somewhere
in the Gulf of Aden
my safta
I only remember
how old age curled her spine into
the bend of a question mark
as if her whole body were asking God
Why have you kept me alive this long?
I bring her letters she cannot read
she kisses the back of both my hands
mumbles incantations under her breath
blessing me
her daughter’s daughter
in a language no one understands
Leenoy Margalit was born and raised in Southern California with Yemenite Jewish and Ashkenazi ancestry. She studied Environmental Science, has previously written for Hey Alma, and currently resides in the north of Israel.