Sh'ma (These Waters)

A mother let go of her child When the great rolling river was kinder than men Yocheved, she prayed he'd remember her love As her tears washed him into the Nile A woman she stood at the edge Of the water she wept with her timbrel in hand Miryam, she sang though she knew not her fate And the water like mercy gave way Sh'ma yisrael Adonai eloheinu Sh'ma yisrael Adonai, Adonai echad A mother she stood on a pier She crossed the Atlantic, its violence and grace Sofia, she cradled her Sarah and sang May these people be kinder to you Sh'ma yisrael Adonai eloheinu Sh'ma yisrael Adonai, echad Baruch shem kavod Malchuto, l'olam va'ed Now I stand here at the shore Of Lake Michigan, watch my boy play in the waves Centuries passed, did the tide every change? Will I too cross these waters one day? Will I too cross these waters one day?