Dear Bella Levenshteyn
I take long walks with Joel in the park
The other day he told me about one of his practices
Like some of our friends do yoga
Others swear by their vipassana meditation
But early in the morning he goes on-line
Pulls up the web site
Types in a name
Hits “return” and views
All the “Rokhl”s that appear
Or all the “Yitshok”s
All the “Goldshteyn”s
Or all the “Salzman”s
It’s a short but daily practice
When for 10 minutes
He slowly reads aloud
The names on the screen
First name
Last name
Of those men women and children who were killed
During Nazism’s 12 years of terror
He’s been doing it for a couple of years
Trying to cultivate compassion and loving-kindness
Somehow
–from novel-in-progress, Our Heroic and Ceaseless 24/7 Struggle against Tsuris
