You Returned
from the Dead,
as did Lazarus,
the continuation
into your New Life
a Resurgence
from Deepest Darkness
*
You carry Now
profound insight
into Our Humanity,
as revealed by the modulated
Spring in your Step
the Smile,
the ardent generosity
and more importantly
the Absence of Sadness
*
Art Work by Yaron Rosner
To My Uncle Ty
*
Scatter me
you said
to the Four Winds
that I might fly
at last
deepest wish
and strongest fear
you said
that I may mingle
in laughter, tears
words of truth
and foolishness
you said
that I might visit
close and far
wide and near
simultaneously
with different particles
of my Self
you said
that in Death
I be what I was in Life
a lingering Flame
at once important
and
insignificant
Art Work By Yaron Rosner
Winter has numbed us in ice,
faced with mounting crystals
your presence retreats
I turn in circles
books unopened, pens untouched
the day runs by, meals made,
a night, another day,
I turn in circles
feeling you wane
as if your breath were fainter
your body more transparent
preparing your soul
to lift from its bones
home for 88 years
I turn in circles
From armor to onion skin
a warrior’s challenge
to go in peace
without fanfare, artifice
or gun powder
rather a slow fading of the edges
a pacifying of the will
a softening of your ardor
now saved for me, only
and in the wake of your silent withdrawal,
you leave an emptiness I apprehend
and I turn in circles
To my father, 4 years before you passed
****
Art work by Yaron Rosner
He sleeps now,
the deepest of Sleep.
Like every night
he called her to him
she went, took his hand
listened to the pain
his labored breathing
the panic in his voice
watched the grown man
shriveled in a fetal thirty nine kilos,
this Child always struggled
her First Born,
fifty four years ago
she gave him Life
His hand Desperately holding hers
Releases, at last
He sleeps
Exhausted she put herself to bed
Dozed til daybreak
when silence woke her
she hurried to her Birthday Boy
found him still asleep
and knew it then
to be forever
To my father, Memorial Day 2014
Resonant memory stored,
such centuries of utterances
cooling and warming
each flagstone,
the scent of mold
We ascended the large steps
you felt as I did, moved
by the voices you’d heard
echoing time immemorial
but from which you have kept
yourself for so long,
the wave of feeling swept
through to your brow
and as it transpired
you could no longer
hold yourself,
Too many whispers at once
too many greetings, entreaties,
too many
So we will sit here for awhile,
gather ourselves for awhile,
and I will wait
till you are ready
to go home.
Few are the voices
you’d return for
Few are the Faces you stay for
Few
Few are the Moments left
What keeps us vacillating
between here, the beyond
the stronger Call
A silent battle
to stay or to go
How long the wear of Habit
until the Choice of here
or there, becomes this
and maybe something better?
Standing in the Shadows
Of my oldest basement,
Poised at the threshold
You watch
Are you waiting
for me to take your hand
Or are you waiting
to step forward?
Hidden in the Depths
Of my earliest underworld
You Breathe
Your presence Strong
Like a Scent
Ancient battles, Ancient
Victories, until the Final
Inevitable defeat
The Odds so Uneven
You tried, You Believed
You Remain
For all of us who Fight
Invincible
the defeated warrior
Singularly Victorious
My Fallen hero
You Stand
Painting by Yaron Rosner
Blood Bound
my love
Runs deep
I breathe in your breath
Move in your shadow
Your clothes,
the striped Shirts
multi-colored
Bowties – your smile
my smile
*
You stand we all look up
You speak we listen
Fight and Struggle
With your Obstinate
Convictions
And hidden desperation
You are both
man and god
Too mercurial to be the father
We seek
*
Cesars too must die
once they are done conquering their world
incessantly marching, declaiming
they lose strength, tire, abate
Objective Reality
seeps in
like gas overtaking
Limb by limb
anguish subsides
*
Worthy your Vision
Momentary your Life
you too my Cesar, moved on
and are missed
*
Painting by Frances Oberbeck