Thursday, May 24, 2007

Poetry Thursday



This week's "completely and totally optional idea" is to incorporate dialogue of some sort in a poem. This is a piece I've been tinkering with for some time, inspired by reading Mr. Wiesel's Nobel speech. If you want to know more about this singular man, he has a foundation to combat intolerance and injustice.

Elie Wiesel Visits with God

"every moment is a moment of grace, every hour an offering;"
--Elie Wiesel, in his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1986

It's not what I expected. My family
doesn't recognize me and whose fault
is that? The last time I saw my mother
I was fifteen. She is younger than I am now.

Why have you cursed them with ease?
She remembers the moment we were torn
apart, but even that has faded, a vague
second childbirth. What will you grant me,

oh, Lord? You left me to live. This is no
homecoming. Shall I recite Shehekhyanu?
'Thank you, God, King of the Universe
for sustaining me to reach this day'.

My baby sisters peek shyly around
our mother's back. My father still the shadow
swallowed by Buchenwald. Even here, the dead
coat my tongue with ashes. Please

understand, this is not bitterness talking,
just fatigue. Lord knows, you schooled me well
in the lessons of endurance. And still you refuse
to unburden me, only repeat back my own words.

"Our lives no longer belong to us alone. They
belong to all those who need us desperately."

14 comments:

  1. You've done him great honor with your poetry. I am truly moved.

    Rose

    xo

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  2. excellent poem that needs to be re-read - I like that you incorporated that quote at the end.

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  3. After reading this, I sat with my hands on my head. This made me think.

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  4. A beautiful and moving tribute. These lines were really powerful and resonated with me, "My father still the shadow
    swallowed by Buchenwald. Even here, the dead
    coat my tongue with ashes"

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  5. "Please

    understand, this is not bitterness talking,
    just fatigue. Lord knows, you schooled me well
    in the lessons of endurance."

    This is such an honest, clear thought. A point of clarity in the midst of insanity.

    Well done.

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  6. Very well crafted. The depth is impressive. I enjoyed reading this a few times.

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  7. Lovely descriptive, evocative writing.

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  8. I loved how compelling the idea is on its own, of a conversation between Weisel and God--but then the poem itself defies description.

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  9. (and I meant that in the best possible way!)

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  10. Thank you, all. I am so pleased this piece touched you.

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  11. This is excellent and moving. I know that feeling of realising that you are older than your mother - it has a certain strangeness about it.

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  12. Nice poem, Lisa. Real nice. Typo? Is it Weisel or Wiesel?

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  13. This beautiful poem touches my heart deeply, and causes me to stop and pay homage--
    Your words truly sound like the great man himself thinking--

    So many lines deserve rereading and savoring--

    Thank you for your kind comment on my blog--and for this wonderful offering!

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  14. Thank you for your lovely comments.

    And thank you for the typo catch--corrected spelling is "Wiesel".

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