a literary arts journal
As With David
Maya Bernstein
she/her
For whom the wind through harp and lyre blew,
who, before bed each night
positioned the harp and lyre
by the window, which he left
ajar to beckon the wind,
to be woken by air
caressing wood and string and emptiness
as he dreamt of the Divine
so he could swaddle himself
in study, so he could sing to God –
so too with me –
though I’ve hung no such instruments –
but this past night the moon
shining through the bolted window
startled me – I had to
shield my eyes and wonder
what the light requires.
Maya Bernstein’s writing has appeared in Allium, Amethyst Review, On the Seawall, The Ekphrastic Review, Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts, Tablet Magazine, Vita Poetica, and elsewhere. She is a recent graduate of the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College. Her first collection is There Is No Place Without You (Ben Yehuda Press, 2022). Maya serves on the board of Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry. Learn more about her at mayabernstein.com.