My phone doesn’t observe
the high holidays, autocorrecting
shana tova to shaman tobacco,
Rosh Hashanah to rose has hands.
Apples and honey for a sweet
new year, or apples and
honestly, or news and years—
always more than one.
Yesterday my daughter asked,
out of what felt like nowhere
but must be a real place
inside her, When people kidnap
kids, do they kill them? Why
would someone kill a kid?
When I texted my husband
this, my phone corrected
kill to Killarney, kid to kids.
We have two. My phone suggests
their names. Suggests what
the duck. Suggests news, years,
and honestly—what truth
can I tell her? I don’t
ducking understand, I don’t
understand ducking any of it.
