Psalm (Mikveh)
by dan bellm
does a person a soul in
a body ever become
new can this be like in the
infinite small hour of an
evening in which there is no
line between the day and night
yet we discern a crossing
over impossible to
say just when and it’s done I
enter the water that springs
from a cleft in the rock here
between myself and you not
even the distance of the
name I wore on my right hand
and as for my eyes what was
visible through a glass I
remove to see do you then
all near to my narrow place
hear me should I call out and
answer from the wide expanse
motion of spirit and breath
voice over the face of the
soundless water saying I
am who I will be can I
rise up reborn will you reach
across the fearful twilight
hour to me reaching for you
Dan Bellm, a poet and translator living in Berkeley, has published three books of poetry, most recently “Practice: A Book of Midrash” (Sixteen Rivers Press), winner of a 2009 California Book Award. He teaches literary translation at Antioch University-Los Angeles, and has received a 2013 translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.