I hold me

See also Poems 2012 - 5772 and Welcome to Australia, But

What happens in group
stays in group

battered old suitcases are opened
rummaged through
to reveal fresh emotions
each one dares
what she or he may
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I long so much
to have everything done for me
someone else pay my bills
someone else write my poems
someone else to face down my challenges
If I could just side step my life
goes the story
I might be able to tackle it

(Published in Boston Literary Review)
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Hero 1:01am

I have a friend
who cannot sleep at night
he listens to music
or stares at the dark
outlines of trees. Like sheep

his mistakes pass before him
and he numbers them one by one
but with dawn he rises
and does what needs to be done
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Hero 1:01am

I have a friend
Who cannot sleep at night
He listens to music
Or watches the dark shapes of the houses and trees
Like sheep his mistakes pass before him
And he counts them one by one
but with the dawn he rises
and does what needs to be done

_______________________

the toffee apple of the world

turns out to be an onion

but an onion when alchemised

is also quite sweet.

(Published in Boston Literary Review)

________________

sometimes I want
the world to kneel on its feet before me
and sometimes I kneel on my feet before it
and beg for sweet mercy
_________________

He began to get ahead in the world
he planted a vegetable patch
he acknowledged himself and those he lived with almost every day
He allowed the things that brought him joy without sorrow
he nurtured himself in order to nurture others
and found nurturing others very self nurturing
he lied less and less
imagined less and less
the stories he told
and the seeds he planted
were ripe with possibility
_____________

When I think about the Holocaust
I get very tense
when I think about doing some gardening
I relax
will my tension serve
someone who'se suffering
ended 68 years ago?

 ____________

Australian - ness is a vehicle
Jewish- ness is a vehicle
South African-ness is a vehicle
Israeli-ness is a vehicle
Palestinian - ness is a vehicle
Gayness is a vehicle
White-ness is a vehicle
Black-ness is a vehicle

where is your vehicle taking you?
__________________
When the teacher said "let's go round and everyone say one thing they are good at"
David said "I'm good at soccer"
and Shira said "I'm good at drawing"
and Dani said "I'm good at mathematics"
and Mahmoud said "I'm good at baking"
and Phillip said "I'm good at solving riddles"
and Katherine said "I'm good at Karate"
and I said "I'm good at liking myself"
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They say that Rashi is wise
but from little I have read of his commentary
I do not find advice
on what to do with errant thoughts
or how to love and respect myself more
or how to be light and easy and clear
and have my outside like my inside
yes Walt Disney said
there's no magic, its all in the details
and Rashi microscopes the details
so travelling with him
the Torah text is clearer
or at least more thought about
but I am to myself
no clearer
only a whirl of thoughts and ideas
and am I my thoughts which come and go
true in one place and untrue in another
true for one day and untrue on another
or am I a spark of the eternal?
Rashi has not told me this yet
and so I l look elsewhere

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looking back on episodes
involving woman's bodies and touch
and me
when we took off our clothes
and our thoughts
it always felt
like I was coming home

__________________

I like the nurturance of the breasts

but I fear the demands of the vagina

milk is life

but sex is life and death

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