The ______ Question

Why? / And why? / And how many? / And how often? / And in what ways? / In which cities? / For how much? / And is there any way to stop it? / How few of them are left? / Can you tell me which ones? / Can you see it in their eyes? / Can you measure it in their skulls? / Can fear cut a path clear across a country? / Can the bottom of your feet turn sinister? / Can someone’s god break an ocean in two? / If so, which one? / Which ocean? / Which god? / Are the tides coming in or going out this evening? / Will there be a war tomorrow? / What do we tell our children? / When the sirens come, where can they hide? / Which laws from the past can we rob for their letters? / What did G-d say about descendants? / Sands on the beach? / A collection of stars? / And what makes a constellation anyway? / Is it the shape or is it the burning? / And where is a homeland if not in a dance? / Where did we go wrong? / How did we do this? / What was your name when you came here first? / Did it spark? / Did it sputter? / Did float off your tongue? / How do you read a backwards blessing? / How do you right an upturned ship? / And how do you pray? / And how do you pray? / And how do you pray? / And how do you / pray?

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Zach Goldberg is a writer, educator, and arts organizer from Durham, NC. He is the author of XV (Nomadic Press, 2020), and his work can be found in voicemail poems, Knight’s Library, Button Poetry, and elsewhere. Zach has represented Wesleyan University and Berkeley, CA at various national and regional poetry slam tournaments. He lives in Minneapolis, MN.