An Old Cracked Tune (Stanley Kunitz)

I can't sing along, but I swear I could, if not sing, lope along to this poem by Stanley Kunitz. I'm not sure where I know Stanley Kunitz's name from; I think he edited a book of poetry I used to like. I don't know if he's Jewish, but the poem sure is.

A desert people. Exodus. Extermination. Is it any wonder N ends the poem with "I dance, for the joy of surviving"? This is a short poem - only eight lines long - but it contains the history of the Jewish people in it. And that's pretty darn neat.

Favorite line: "The sands whispered, Be separate,/the stones taught me, Be hard."