Things That Are Not To Be, a prayer-poem in the event of a pregnancy loss by Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi (LGPC)

Contributor(s):

Hanna Yerushalmi

Shared on:

19 January 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Mourning, Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth

Tags:

English vernacular prayer, pregnancy loss, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	In this world of endless possibilities, Some things are not to be, A voiceless answer to my prayers, An echo of the sounds of creation A tree uprooted then replanted The sun tracing a path backward Across the vast hollow horizon.
	Some things are not to be, The baby that grew tenderly within Gone now, leaving whispers and flutters A trail of tears, a mountain-top loneliness Born from wind and salt and clay.
	The body remembers with neural connections Woven together to embrace me, remind me You were once here A frail silvery thread connected You ever so tentatively to me.
	It frayed as the twilight unfolded The world of endless possibilities Offered one more thing, not to be: This loss I wanted to refuse, The silver thread needs mending Frail yes, but you were once here.
	Not in full form, not in full color Not full of spirit nor body And yet something of you lingers. You belong to the twilight, You dwell in the whispers, You echo in my holy tears.

“Things that are not to be,” a prayer-poem by Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi (LGPC) in the event of a pregnancy loss was first published in Mishkan R’fuah: Where Healing Resides (CCAR 2013), p. 49-50.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Things That Are Not To Be, a prayer-poem in the event of a pregnancy loss by Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi (LGPC)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Hanna Yerushalmi

Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi is a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) with the State of Maryland. She earned a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling from Bowie State University, a CACREP certified program. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor through the National Board for Certified Counselors. Hanna has training and supervision working with clients recovering from domestic violence and sexual abuse, through her internship at the YWCA of Annapolis, as well as training working with clients struggling with addiction, through her practicum at Pathways, Anne Arundel Medical Center.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17