sometimes something defines
a life (besides one’s being itself)
my cousin, a post grad from ohio
working in israel was alone in
the office of antiquities all those
in charge off at a meeting when
a group of bedouins showed
up with an arm full of scrolls
they’d found in an unexplored
cave my cousin had enough
training and knowledge to
realize these discoveries were
ancient; these men needed to be
welcomed with respect the scrolls
subsequently intensively studied
came to be known as “the dead sea
scrolls” the rest of my cousin’s life
was dedicated to the interpretation
and importance of this find you can
note his name john c trever on dust
jackets read his words I sometimes
wonder what his life might have been
were he not in the right place at the
right time I also sometimes wonder
what time, place I might have missed
or any of us for that matter but
it’s of course just idly wondering
2022 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Taking health care to the streets.
