Banish the Darkness - 2022

“If someone besides a black ever sings the real gut bucket blues, it’ll be a Jew. We both know what it’s like to be someone else’s footstool.” -Ray Charles Author’s note: this is a companion piece to “Where Are They Now?” Published in Out On A Limb, 2020 In the shadows lurk a venomous hate, a darkness that festers, sealing our destiny. Its target, the sons and daughters of a heritage rich in history’s pages. From ancient times to the modern era, the prejudice persists in myriad ways. A scapegoat for woes, a target for blame, the Jew bears the brunt of humanity’s disgrace. With whispers of conspiracy, lies unfurl, a web of deceit, cruel and cold. Stereotypes wielded like a sharpened blade, piercing the soul, leaving hearts gored. From pogroms to ghettos, from Holocaust’s cry, to the present day’s thriving rhetoric. The echoes of hatred, they still ring out, in the air we breathe, in the ground we’ve uncovered. Surrounded by darkness, a glimmer of resilience and courage, shining bright. For the Jewish spirit, it will not shatter in the face of adversity, but will awake. So let us stand against the trend, with love and compassion, side by side. For in unity, we find our power and banish the darkness with unwavering light.