A prayer poem about the pain of losing hope and the struggle to find hope again, turning to the most unexpected source of potential answers…those who were murdered in the shock and terror assault on Israel on October 7.
To Hope Again
My heart has abandoned this world,
To seek the lost who refuse
Entrance to heaven.
Yes, the innocent dead
Have refused their places
In the holy realms,
To fly on the wind,
To dwell among the stars,
To haunt the bloody earth
With messages of love and despair,
Beseeching comfort from the ancient deep
From which all life emerged.
My heart has abandoned this world,
Praying to learn from the innocent dead
How to hope again.
© 2024 Alden Solovy
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Postscript: Here are some of my other prayer poems coming out of October 7 and the war: “Nothing Left but Tears,” “The Court of the Captives,” and “Tears and Rain.”
Please check out These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah and my other CCAR Press volumes: This Grateful Heart, This Joyous Soul, and This Precious Life, which can also be purchased as the Grateful/Joyous/Precious trilogy. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. For a taste of my teaching, see my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer.”
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Photo by Alden Solovy
Tags: death, hope, Israel, loss, love, pain, suffering, war