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This piece is part of our Witnessing series, which shares pieces from Israeli authors and authors in Israel, as well as the experiences of Jewish writers around the globe in the aftermath of October 7th.
It is critical to understand history not just through the books that will be written later, but also through the first-hand testimonies and real-time accounting of events as they occur. At Jewish Book Council, we understand the value of these written testimonials and of sharing these individual experiences. It’s more important now than ever to give space to these voices and narratives.
Coda, after October 7, 2023
a monitor taped to my chest
tracks arrythmia and flutters
there are no wires or beeps
so nothing tells me when
a valve fails to close on time
or beats don’t belong
the monitor sends messages
through a cellphone by my bed
somewhere it is recorded:
the warring chambers of my heart
The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author, based on their observations and experiences.
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Jane Saginaw is the author of Because the World is Round (Deep Vellum, 2022), a memoir recounting an around-the-world family trip in 1970 with her mother who used a wheelchair because of polio paralysis. Her chapbook, NOT I (Finishing Line Press, forthcoming 2027), probes the porous nature of personal identity in the context of historical trauma, joining personal and persona poems in conversation across generations and oceans. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a law degree from the University of Texas, Austin and a PhD in Literature from The University of Texas, Dallas. Jane was a trial lawyer in Dallas with Baron & Budd and served, under Clinton, as a Regional Administrator of the EPA. In 2006, she was awarded Trail Lawyer of the Year by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice for her environmental work. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Athenaeum Review, Image Journal, D Magazine, Paper Brigade Daily, Witnessing, and Beyond Words Magazine.
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