West Trade Review: "longing is a name for god" by Alex Baskin

Alex Baskin

longing is a name for god

in yeshiva we studied a page

of talmud proposing

that you should not sleep

on your back

because

your erection

will be pointing

up at god

presumably impolitely

and prone won’t work either

as your erection might rub

against the mattress

and you could

potentially illicitly climax

we eavesdropped

on a two-thousand-year-old

conversation among real rabbis

with real bodies

who surmised that side-sleeping

was the safest bet

i love lying every which way

and for whatever reason

i love the smell

of the page, its shove, its rage

i love the sun and the moon

i have been so tossed and turned

by night and day

that i couldn’t tell

by whose light

i was finding my way

i’d love to wake up

one bright morning

and discover that i am

the erection itself

god, let me be

a lovely utterance

let me be a gesture pointing

to something beyond the shell

of my small self

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Image by Mike Jones from Pexels

Alex Baskin is the author of the chapbook I wake up tangled in pillows and sheets (2025, Fork Apple Press). His poetry has been published in Gulf Coast, Ninth Letter, Redivider, and elsewhere. He works as an interfaith hospital chaplain. Originally from New Jersey, he lives in Massachusetts. IG: @alex.baskin. Website: alex-baskin.com

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Alex Baskin

longing is a name for god

in yeshiva we studied a page

of talmud proposing

that you should not sleep

on your back

because

your erection

will be pointing

up at god

presumably impolitely

and prone won’t work either

as your erection might rub

against the mattress

and you could

potentially illicitly climax

we eavesdropped

on a two-thousand-year-old

conversation among real rabbis

with real bodies

who surmised that side-sleeping

was the safest bet

i love lying every which way

and for whatever reason

i love the smell

of the page, its shove, its rage

i love the sun and the moon

i have been so tossed and turned

by night and day

that i couldn’t tell

by whose light

i was finding my way

i’d love to wake up

one bright morning

and discover that i am

the erection itself

god, let me be

a lovely utterance

let me be a gesture pointing

to something beyond the shell

of my small self

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Home About Subscribe Guidelines Submit Exclusives West End Roots & Words

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stay Connected to Our Literary Community. Subscribe to Our Substack Roots & Words

Home About Subscribe Guidelines Submit Exclusives West End

Join Our Team