My Soul Came Back To Me/Hard Tough Young As I Once Was
MY SOUL CAME BACK TO ME/HARD TOUGH YOUNG AS I ONCE WAS
My soul came back to me
Hard tough young as I once was
A fighting soul
A soul that would never give in
No matter how they tried to torment it into surrender-
My soul back came to me
And once again I thought I could stand against the world
And by being brave
And going out there alone
On my own adventure
Find the Truth as no one else had
And know what no others had known=
But in my soul I know I am pretending
I have seen and known too much
Also of myself-
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
I Wrote Nothing Today
I WROTE NOTHING TODAY
I wrote nothing today
I did not do my work
I played around
I read what I wanted
I searched the Internet for nonsense
I did not face the work and reality I have
I wrote nothing today
I did nothing today
I am to blame
The world will fall apart
The sky will never be blue again
The night will go on forever
No birds will sing and no rivers will flow
All the trees will lose their green-
I did nothing today
It's all over
I did nothing today and I am nothing and I will forever be nothing
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Poetry Of Confession
THE POETRY OF CONFESSION
The poetry of confession -
The poetry of self- indulgence-
The poetry of the ‘wretch con-centered all in self’-
The poetry of moods and feelings-
Of all ideas only as they relate to the poet himself-
The poetry of desperation-
The poetry of need-
The poetry of urgency -
And serving the poet first-
Not enough of the world
Not enough of others- of other perspectives
Not formal and disciplined enough-
The poetry which is not crafted and polished
The poetry in which the need of the poet
Is more central than the quality of the poetry –
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Both Sides Need Peace
Both sides need Peace-
We need it to survive-
You cannot destroy us
Or have us destroyed
Without yourselves being destroyed-
And we neither want to nor can destroy you-
But if you persist in not willing to truly accept us
And we cannot find a way to compromise on our dream
And we go again to War with others larger than you on your side
Disaster will come to us all-
We need Peace
If we are to survive here
The coming generations of both of us
Need Peace
Not because we Love each other
Or will ever Love each other
Though a certain limited Friendship may still be possible-
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
For Israel: A Small Poem Of Gratitude On Its Sixty- Fourth Independence Day
FOR ISRAEL: A SMALL POEM OF GRATITUDE ON ITS SIXTY- FOURTH INDEPENDENCE DAY
How can one person even think to begin to say
What so many would say?
The gratitude for the years of being here-
The gratitude for the blessings that have been given-
The beauty of so much done here-
The courage of so many and the sacrifice-
The children and the grandchildren
The life in Jerusalem-
The rain this year and the freshness of the land now-
Our ability to defend ourselves
The realization of a dream of so many generations in returning-
The friends we have-
The building of the country
The dream that somehow we will make Peace
The benefit we have in our inventions given to others
How can one person even begin to say all the thanks
For so much there is to be grateful for?
Thank God we are still here
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
My Despair Comes And Goes
My Despair comes and goes
It is not the ultimate despair,
The despair of those who have forever lost hope
The despair of those who have lost what they never will regain
The despair of those for whom there is no way out
No way to begin again
No hope in any way forever
My Despair comes and goes
It is a small Despair compared to many others
When I am in it of course
I believe it like theirs Hopeless forever hopeless
But then a new day begins,
Or a friendly voice says a friendly word
Or something good and positive happens
Or the weather changes
Or some hurt goes away
Some sign comes
And slowly slowly
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Once I Thought My Failure To Make My Work Known
ONCE I THOUGHT MY FAILURE TO MAKE MY WORK KNOWN
Once I thought my failure to make my work known
Was only a private thing -
Poor me for not being praised by Eternity-
But now I understand
It hurts others
The people I care for
Our people threatened-
It means essentially
That I give zero-
That all the enemy voices are heard
While our side
The side of Truth and Freedom
Has one less defender-
I must try then in my old age
To make my work known-
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
We Are All The Snow Men
WE ARE ALL THE SNOW MEN
(Homage to Wallace Stevens)
We are all the snow men
Minor would- be Poets
Listening in the distant glitter
To the poem someone else has written
Far better than us.
We are all the quiet readers
Connecting our eyes and ears with images
Finer than those
We can ourselves fantasize:
The ‘junipers shagged with ice’
And ‘the spruces rough in the distant glitter’
We are all minor makers of our own nothingness
Beside the Great Poets who find a music of the soul
We seek and strive for and never find.
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
In The Manner Of Borges I Write Poems In My Old Age
IN THE MANNER OF BORGES I WRITE POEMS IN MY OLD AGE
In the manner of Borges I write poems in my old age
And dream that they are not only imitations
Of poems written by others
When we all were young.
Instead I go on now in the darkness of the night
Because the fear of what will be
Is always so deep in me
It does not need Poetry or Happiness or any other Meaning
Outside itself.
We are small sands drifting on the edge of stars
Lesser beings of a time we will never know
All that we have done comes back to us over and over again
As if we never were
I don’t believe I will ever write Borges lines
He wrote them in his own imagined words
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Not Every Poem Knows How To Say Its Own Name Properly
NOT EVERY POEM KNOWS HOW TO SAY ITS OWN NAME PROPERLY
Not every poem knows how to say its own name properly-
There are poems that have no name
And poems that are named by others who have not written them-
There are poems whose names make them what they are
And poems whose names contradict and belie them-
Many poems have their first lines as their names
And these poems often are as memorable as one line only-
Great poems and good poems can be nameless
Or can have unforgettable names.
Not every poem knows how to say its own name properly -
Poems are poems are poems
And names are names are names
And sometimes they meet and are one
And live happily ever after-
But there are times when perhaps
They never should have met each other at all.
[...] Read more
poem by Shalom Freedman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!