Founded in the fall of 1991, Laurel Moon is Brandeis' oldest, national literary publication. Each issue we publish features original work from undergraduate students.
The beats of my hands
on my dog’s rib cage
echo in her chest cavity
as if she is an instrument—
a djembe covered
with stretched goat hide;
the rosined horse hair
on cello strings;
this old man, he played nine
he played knick-knack
on my spine;
Orpheus’ metaphor
for Eurydice’s hair;
the shofar my father
played in the woods—
and realizing that instruments
are often dead things made alive
by music, my hands stop
and her tail beats the floor