Winner of the Reuben Rose Poetry Competition,
2006
Rachel’s Eulogy for her
Grandmother
Grandma, how I miss you! I sat
at your knee
telling you my dreams. You
smiled and nodded knowingly,
singing of a land where summer grass is topped with dew –
you read me Aunt Rivka’s scrolls
from the land where date palms brush the sky. You knew
I loved your lullabies of
young men whose souls
soared to heaven as they sat learning in a tent,
and your stories how Uncle dug wells – deep holes –
from which water surged, and oases bloomed, and how Aunt went
and fell off her camel when she saw
Uncle, like
an angel, praying in a field. You spent
hours with me as I played with new lambs near the tent door!
And you consoled me when Leah
married the man
I loved. You too will have
him, a little patience, dear, you said before
the morning star appeared. You persuaded Father; you ran
to my tent that night, held me in your arms and let me cry
into your embrace as you revealed your plan.
Oh Grandma, you consoled me in
my barrenness, you hugged me when I’d sigh
upon hearing that my sister had birthed another boy.
But Grandma,
who will console me now? How can I say
goodbye?
Comments
of the judge, Vera Rich:
Emerged early on as the clear winner.Really excellent work, both thematically and technically. The terza rima is beautifully and subtly handled – so much so that at first reading one is hardly aware of it – and at the same time this strict rhyme-scheme is counterpointed with the varying
line-length.The language, imagery and content strikes me as totally
congruent to the era of the patriarchs (I wondered for a moment about “scrolls”
– and a purist might argue against it - but then I recalled that
Abraham’s family could have become familiar with the use of papyrus while in
Egypt. The language is pared-down to essentials – while still retaining
the underlying music intrinsic to poetry. A really splendid piece… it is
the one that I really covet to publish.
Go to the Honorable Mention in the Reuben Rose Competition See photos of the award winning at Bet HaSofer