Before

by Sharon Dolin

Wordless song—niggunim—those
tunes of the soul before
there were souls
and each one of us has our own.

Have I spent my life entire in pursuit of that song?

When I read Creation—At the beginning—
breishit—the word for head—rosh—
buried within it was there a Godhead
not unlike Zeus’s from which Athena

had sprung?
It is hard to find my way into song
and it is not always good
maybe I have to return to first things

like the letter bet which leads me to bayit—
house—so must I build this house of song
from these roughly hewn bricks we call letters
and find a voice that invokes first light

of Creation and sing
Abundant praises to the chief musician
who has created my will
to create and hum

into being my soul’s wordless song.

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Sharon Dolin is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently Imperfect Present; a memoir entitled Hitchcock Blonde; and two books of translation, most recently Late to the House of Words: Selected Poems by Gemma Gorga. Dolin is associate editor of Barrow Street Press and teaches poetry workshops in New York City.