Book Review
A Prayer of Six Wings by Owen Lewis
120 pages │ Dos Madres Press │ April 2025
Owen Lewis, an award-winning Jewish poet, psychiatrist, and Columbia University professor, has long understood that healing begins with facing pain. In his latest collection, A Prayer of Six Wings, Lewis turns his gaze and pen to the shattering events of October 7, 2023, and the year that followed, a period marked by the Hamas massacre, war in Gaza, and a frightening surge of antisemitism worldwide.
The book opens with “My Partisan Grief,” an elegy to the young lives lost at the Nova music festival, and expands outward to encompass the anguish felt by Jews in Israel and the diaspora alike. Lewis’s poems are not confined to one narrative; they move between the streets of Tel Aviv, where his daughter and grandchildren live, and the emotionally charged atmosphere of New York, where he witnessed campus protests and antisemitic slogans firsthand.
What sets this collection apart is its blend of the personal and the journalistic. Some poems are inspired by headlines, what Lewis calls “poetic journalism,” while others draw from family stories and ancient prayers. He writes of divided families, the persistence of daily life under threat, and the elusive hope for peace. In one striking passage, Lewis asks, “How will we put these faces together again / these ripped paper faces on the sidewalk?” a question that resonates with anyone who has watched the news in horror and helplessness.
Lewis’s empathy extends beyond his own community. His poetry acknowledges the suffering of all victims of war, including Palestinians, and draws on the work of Palestinian poets to deepen his exploration of grief. Yet, the collection remains steadfastly rooted in Jewish experience and Zionist identity, linking the trauma of the present to the resilience of the past.
The language throughout is both lyrical and clear-eyed, refusing easy answers or ideological slogans. As Alicia Ostriker notes in her introduction, these poems are “for the intellectually and emotionally engaged, and lovers of poetry and truth.” Lewis’s writing is devout without piety, prophetically angry without losing sight of love, for family, for Israel, for humanity.
At 120 pages, A Prayer of Six Wings is not just a record of a year of mourning; it is a testament to the enduring power of Jewish memory and the necessity of bearing witness. Lewis reminds us that even in the darkest times, poetry can be both a shield and a bridge-connecting generations, continents, and hearts.
For readers searching for solace, understanding, or simply a way to process the enormity of recent events, Lewis’s collection is a vital companion. It is a book that mourns, remembers, and, ultimately, refuses to let go of hope.
“A Prayer of Six Wings” is available now from Dos Madres Press. It is a book to be read, shared, and cherished, a luminous addition to the literature of Jewish resilience and the ongoing story of Israel.