Vision of Forgiveness

A Yom Kippur omaggio to Dylan Thomas
Who
Are you
So close in
My heart my soul
That the beat is yours
The voice chewing the back
Of my skull your animus and I
Shake myself chant and mantra, every
Cell and neuron gasping for some air?
Body to body soul to soul
Flip a blessing find a curse
All things thrown leave a mark
Splintered end table
Broken oak bones
Testify
To my
Loss.


Cry
Bathe in
Tears of hate
So close to love
The radiation
Alters the dna
Of me of you of little him
Strike my name from her papers to
Cleanse the soil of all signs that I lived!
Wound to wound, damage to damage
I will not listen when the
Scorn shrieks silently from
Your side of the street
Let the whole pain
Flow open
We must
Live.

Kesher

These threads
Wrapped about my index finger
Bind my spirit
To my people I am betrothed
To the crafter of this silken garment
I owe more than fealty

I looked to my bureau
My loyal seatmate in woven
Jerusalem stone
Yielding sacred garment cloaking
Mother, son and God.
A stack of bills in your stead!

Every Sabbath I searched
Frantically furtively forlornly
Fruitlessly
Stripped of my derech eretz
When in shul do as the Romans do.
When I lead
A threadbare Ziontalis testifies to
Criminal neglect


Making space
I pull open one more box
A pink golden glow speaks
In a whisper heard across
Four thousand miles
Four thousand years
“Ir shalom,
Jerusalem”
The breathless shout of the needlepoint
Crescendos as the lid recedes
Revealing accidental, holy contents

Bless the soul that crafted your bounty
Bless the soul that preserved you safe
Bless the soul that revealed you
Returned as if newly binding
Mother son God and people!

The Value of a Marriage

We hovered over the change dish
Cash-4-Gold pouch in my right hand
His jet black hair thrusts upward in my left
Resting the envelope ready
I lift the shiny band
My sigh weighs twelve years

He asked me what is that Daddy
My wedding ring
What does it say
"Dimitikh ra'ayati," My love, I dreamed of you
What are you gonna do with it
I think I'm gonna sell it

His doe eyes moistened
His plea heard not said
You won't lose it I could use the money for the rent
No Daddy never
The rent was late
He keeps the ring under his pillow

HUNGER/RESULTS (not a poem)

STAND UP AGAINST HUNGER
October 17, 1:30 pm

Free Library of Philadelphia, East Falls Branch

Dr. Paul Farmer Teleconference

A recent nominee for Director of the US AID, Farmer is the founder of Partners in Health. Farmer is famous for a omplishing feats in providing healthcare for the poor that nobody ever thought were possible. The Partners in Health clinic in Haiti, the Clinique Bon Sauveur, treats all patients that arrive on its doorstep. Subject of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, he is internationally known for his pioneering work in community-based treatment strategies for AIDS and tuberculosis (including multi–drug resistant TB) and his focus on diseases that disproportionately afflict the poor. Dr. Farmer is also Chief of the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is a close friend and ally of RESULTS.

Invitation to ACTION!!!

Ron Fischman, Microcredit
Ruth Birchett, Activism

Affect Congress! Demonstrate! Become an ACTIVIST!


For more info or to RSVP:
Ron Fischman cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS
cantorron@aol.com (215) 626-1644

Stand Up Against Hunger/RESULTS

The Birthday Gift

Light reflected off the crisp
Sleek orange yellow plastic
Splits my retina like an M-16
Click click lock and load
Faux chrome clip fits poymer dart bullet warhead
Neatly into chamber

Mop- top graces shining eyes
Laughter bursting through the scope
Orange Bakugan shirt no longer flaps loosely
One more weekend for blue shorts, summer soles
"Here comes my RPG! Gotcha, Daddy!"

Mom in Birkenstocks toddles three-year-old twins
Her eyes seek safety.
Her shoes show scorn.
The straw buyer grins and frets at once.
His tie-dye shrugs, mumbles.

The Birthday Gift

Light reflected off the crisp

The Birthday Gift

Light reflected off the crisp

The Birthday Gift

Light reflected off the crisp