A Qaemot is a sort of prayer for a Jewish exorcism. This is part of a new series on “exorcism poems” for Rosebud Ben-Oni.

Only women appear in the Heritage Poem™,

and the mother is the most important.

Tomorrow, / I promise I will unbury my fingers / from yesterday’s losses.

I have never felt more like a tourist / as when taxied in the streets of my birthplace

Scoop the mixture of split peas, water, your aunt’s eyelashes into your hands.

we don’t keep honey in the house because we don’t need it. / instead, she dips her fingers in my tea.

When I sweat, I smell my past. We joke / now that I could start good, hearty meals / in my armpits

Or is it a Sonnet. Because I can’t sing with a mouthful / of pus.