Author: Lenore Weiss
Printed in: Canyon Oaks Press
Place of publication:California
Published in Year: 2004
Price: 10$ includes shipping and tax
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by Lenore Weiss
Source: Come Untogether (2004), p26
Lashanah haba'ah b'Yerushalayim
Next year I don't want to be in Jerusalem
because why would I choose to be in a land
of war and death where children
blow themselves up because they have no future?
Next year I don't want to be in Jerusalem
because I don't understand why the Israeli government
continues to sacrifice the interests of its own people
at every checkpoint.
Next year I don't want to be in Jerusalem
because I can't continue telling a story about renewal
when I only see a land filled with shredded skin
and bulldozed olive trees.
Next year I don't want to be in Jerusalem
because how can I pretend this isn't happening
like some medals cover-up that's come to occupy
my heart with its lies?
Next year I only want to be in Jerusalem with you
to fill an extra cup of wine at the table
for our Palestinian brothers and sisters,
so we may share the stories of those who died
so we may all set ourselves free from fear and hatred.
--------------------
Donald Duck Shabbat
by Lenore Weiss
Source: Public and Other Places (2003) p. 28
Between opening
And closing of the ark,
Torah is taken
from its hiding place,
while an infant is passed
from his father's sling pouch
into his mothers arms.
Pressed against a wooden pew
she gives the child
a blue and white Donald duck doll
as their lips move in prayer,
both parents recite Hebrew
eyes shut,
while the child's fingers
flirt with shiny buttons
and white fuzz,
nostrils sunk
deep in duck feathers.
Only lovers
can hear each other's quack.
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Available in print edition.
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Title of poem: Passover 2004
Poet: Lenore Weiss
Rating: 5 laurels out of 5 laurels
Comments on Lenore Weiss' poem "Passover 2004".
Lenore Weiss' poem "Passover 2004" is a very timely poem about the situation in the Middle East. It is a free verse consisting of five stanzas and 21 lines.
It is sad to note in current events and history reveals that Jerusalem has become a city of violence and a city of religious wars. The Christians want to reclaim the city as their own. The Muslims want to reclaim the city as their own. The Jews want to claim Jerusalem as their own.
The poem "Passover 2004" is exactly a poem that describes the situation in Jerusalem. The character in the poem does not want to go to Jerusalem because Jerusalem is not a city of peace but a city racked by violence and religious strife. Jerusalem is not an ideal place to celebrate the Passover anymore..
The poem begins:
"Next year I don't want to be in Jerusalem
because why would I choose to be in a land
of war and death where children
blow themselves up because they have no future?"
The character in the poem hopes peace will reign in Jerusalem someday. The poem ends:
"Next year I only want to be in Jerusalem with you
to fill an extra cup of wine at the table
for our Palestinian brothers and sisters,
so we may share the stories of those who died
so we may all set ourselves free from fear and hatred."
The poem reveals that the character in the poem hopes that someday the Palestinians and the Jews will be sitting on one table someday without fear and hatred.
This poem is nominated "Best Poem of the Year 2004" for Muses Review Awards 2005- Poetry..
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