Fooling the Angel of Death

- Myra Sklarew

He berates me: it seems

I no longer pronounce

her name. In Judaism,

I explain, when a child is ill

like this one, we give them

a false name---perhaps Chaia,

for life. Or Arieh

for the strength of a lion.

so the angel of death

will be fooled and will not find

the one she is looking for.

So, for the time being,

I have abandoned her name.

And I name her Strength,

name her Source

of Life, name her Neshuma

for blessed soul, call

her Endurance, call her

Cunning. And I do not

mention the word heart

nor draw it on this page.

Myra Sklarew has published six collections of poetry, most recently Lithuania: New & Selected Poems and Eating the White Earth (which was also translated into Hebrew and published in Israel). She has also published a work of fiction, Like a Field Riddled by Ants as well as a collection of essays entitled Over the Rooftops of Time. Ms. Sklarew is a recipient of the National Jewish Book Award in Poetry as well as an award from the Judah Magnes Museum, and has recorded her poetry for the Library of Congress Contemporary Poetry Archive.