Opening slate of Jewish poets share their works

By Eileen Wingard

LA JOLLA, California — The seventh season of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” opened with three provocative poets. Michael Mark’s poems reflected his unique take on life and his sharp sense of humor. He is a published poet who has been nominated for the 2015 prestigious Pushcart Award.

Here are two examples of his work:

Dangers of Suburbia

The family walks
single file,
carrying rolls of tape and papers
with their dog’s face copied on them.

They move from lamp posts to big trees
to stop signs.

From the park bench I watch
the boy carefully smooth the tape,
making a deal with God –
for his accuracy he gets his dog back.

And the mother, squeezing his shoulder, not
letting go of him, never;
the leggy sister clapping her hands,
checking in the bushes.

Missing since this morning.
“Princess” is very friendly.
Family distraught.
Reward.

You forget the coyotes are out there.

Some nights, putting the garbage out,
a shadow passes.
When the moon is bright, you hear
their prayerful moans.

Other times, there are small barks,
someone’s Buster or Buddy,
surrounded by the howls.

Then quiet.

The quiet people leave the city for,
to raise their family in.

© Michael Mark
Originally published in Lost Coast Magazine

They tell me not to look

My Facebook friends tell me “Don’t look”
at the hacked nude photos of celebrities.

My neighbors say I shouldn’t read about the
patient diagnosed with Ebola in our local hospital.

My shrink advises me not to watch the beheadings
of the journalists by Jihadists on CNN.

When my investment portfolio falls 20%
my accountant recommends situation comedies.

“My hair is falling out,” I complain to my barber. She
takes the mirror from my hand and repositions the chair.

At my grandmother’s funeral, my family encourages
me to close my eyes when I pay my respects.

But I want to look.

It must be the formative training by the Rabbis urging me
to see the truth in God.

This is what I tell Lois when she finds me examining
Jennifer Lawrence’s naked photos on my computer.

© Michael Mark
Originally published in Belleville Park Pages

Lauren Ponder, working for her BA in liberal studies at San Francisco State University, draws from a variety of life experiences, including two  years in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, working with the native people.
Here are two examples of her readings:

Lost at Sea

Inside my body is chaos
It’s the birthing site of the Big Bang and its universal components
Temperatures soar and rapidly plummet as seismic waves erupt at dizzying speeds
Volcanic lava floods my body, snowflaking into canals

Inside my body is chaos
It is the restless port of bartered goods and the lost and found of unclaimed treasures
My nerves are at attention, waiting for a skipped heart beat or cataclysmic earthquake
The hubbub disguises the commands, forever confusing intentions

Inside my body is chaos
It’s the futuristic mass-transit system, moving at the speed of light
My muscles are like pizza dough in the Bronx, thin and malleable
Change is the great constant demanding precise function

Inside my body is chaos
Dark clouds merge throughout my lungs after each inhale
My cells are soldiers on a trampoline battlefield
I desperately need an exorcism to rid me of this confining weight

Alchemy

I have always been interested in looking at the darkness;
Searching the mind of the oppressed to resurrect the need for compassion.
What if seeing the ubiquitous suffering allowed us to open our hearts?
Could we have compassion for our own dysfunction?

We are like the biblical sons and daughters who face the darkness.
We see the suffering of the generations and decree
“we will never be like that.”
Oh the fire and gnashing of teeth!!

In school, others always corrected our mistakes
Is it even possible for us to correct our own?
I can thank the world for showing me how I don’t want to be…
but oh so few that show me the way!

Now, it’s all coming to me…sometimes too fast
I reach out for the stars but they seem so far away
Forever caught in the devil’s bargain
Share with me what you have learned from your suffering and how you have changed?
Share with me your alchemy

Eleña Horvitz, the youngest of the group, graduated from San Diego State University last May, having majored in Sociology. She teaches in an afterschool program which encompasses current events, critical thinking and public speaking and spans elementary through high school. Two examples of her poetry:

The Gardener

Though it isn’t often
there are indeed times
when, in the dead
of black night,
a hunter under
the stars falls
to his knees,
drops his rifle at his side
and instead of robbing
the earth of a life
outstretches his trembling hand
to offer something defenseless
a recognition
of its ever present
existence.

It takes only
a moment’s glimpse
of the truth
to turn the lumberjack into
the gardener.

I Will Leave This World With an Aching Heart

I will leave this world
with an aching heart
for all that
I have seen.
For all that I witnessed
this story become
and all it would
never be.
For the history books
filled with lies and blood
and for the dreary
prophecies.
For the politicians
who sold their souls
and the leaders who could
never agree.
For each tree cut down
to make way for
profit
.
For the tiny homes
destroyed.
For each civilian bleeding
and cold.
For every trembling
soldier deployed.

for the children killed in war for the prison stabbings for the corrupt police for the lonely mothers for the unknowing youth for the cultures destroyed for the disappeared for the exploited for the empty for the inspired for the brief moments of love for letters never sent for oceans polluted for the alien life for the picket lines for the heroin needles for the atom bombs for those who are sorry –

For those who saw
wrongdoings and did
what they could.
For those who turned away
and said they
never would.
For plans cut short
and plans never made.
For the countryside
and urban decay.
To you all
this eulogy
 I impart,
the reasons I will leave this world
with an aching heart.

The next evening of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices,” Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. will feature the works of two of the great poets of the past, Saul Tchernichovsky and Rachel. The poetry of Tchernichovsky will be introduced by Dr. Yehuda Shabatay, former director of San Diego’s Bureau of Jewish Education and recently retired lecturer in Judaic Studies at San Diego State University. My daughter Myla Wingard, a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, will speak about Rachel and introduce her works. The poetry, in Hebrew and English will be read by members of our Jewish community. Havurat Zemer, the Hebrew-singing choir, under the direction of Ravi Riv, will sing two songs by each poet.

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Wingard is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts.  Your comment may be posted in the space provided below or sent directly to the author at eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com

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