Freedom From Trauma

When the king hears

that a miraculous child is born

he murders all

infants in our neighborhood.

I escape to Egypt

with the trauma of knowing

that my existence

after conception

and again after birth

causes catastrophe.

In Egypt, singing songs on Passover,

inspired by the ancient Hebrew slaves

yearning to learn how to be free,

we have faith that we too will be

moved by life’s tragedies

to create miraculous strategies.