Right

 By Marjorie Maddox

of rites of passage,

even celebration unlocking—

behind the already unlocked doors—

such triggers of rage, l’chaim switch-

knifed into Mourner’s Kaddish

accompanied by guns. What

traditions unearthed by this

embattled world? What

ancient rites revived

for the newly dead?

Marjorie Maddox is the winner of America Magazine’s 2019 Foley Poetry Prize and Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lock Haven University, Marjorie Maddox has published 11 collections of poetry—including Transubstantiation (Yellowglen Prize);  None of the Above (Illumination Book Award Medalist); and Perpendicular As I (Sandstone Book Award). She is also the author of the short story collection What She Was Saying, four children’s books, and she is an editor of Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania  and Presence.  Her website is www.marjoriemaddox.com.