Hands-in memory of Betty Lederman, 1917-2015

Kneeling, not in church

but by mother’s bedside

not standing, superior, dominant,

not even equal in line of vision

but humbled in devotion 

to her source of life;

her cold, red hands 

caress the stretched out skin

of blue veined hands,

almost bloodless with age 

and severe anemia

“Azoi kalt!” she exclaims

eyes widening with surprise and concern

the supplicant still kneeling, rubs the skeletal bones 

of her personal supernal Imah,

and coldness thaws, redness turns pink

and the warmth of a mother’s heart 

flows beyond blood’s coagulation.