"Cloudy with Errors and Pacing" by Yoni Hammer-Kossoy, Poet of the Week

Editor's Note:  Toward the end of every year, Songs of Eretz must bid farewell to Frequent Contributors who have decided to move on to other projects.  Sadly, this year we must say goodbye to Yoni Hammer-Kossoy.

In his all too brief year with us, Yoni put the "Eretz" in Songs of Eretz quite literally.  His crisp style of poetry with its Middle Eastern flair helped set Songs of Eretz apart from other venues.  He will be dearly missed.

As a final tribute to this up-and-coming poet, Songs of Eretz will feature Yoni as our Poet of the Week for the week of November 26, 2018.  We invite you to enjoy one of Yoni’s poems every weekday this week, beginning today with "Cloudy with Errors and Pacing".

Cloudy with Errors and Pacing

Yoni Hammer-Kossoy

Dear reader,
in a far-off where or when,
bundled and burdened
by day to day troubles,
trudging knee deep
through frigid drifts --

I'll never know why or how
you're reading this,
if you're one to savor
every pixelated word,
or like a gobsmacked castaway
at an all night buffet
barely rest between one verse
and the next.

I give you this seed of sunlight
harvested at an early hour
bright with birdsong

and purple clouds drifting in the west
like a rumpled bedspread.

It was the longest day of the year
and the heat set in
with the finality of a second opinion,
while everywhere trees
were busy adding another ring
under their skin.

I'll never know why or how
but someday this seed in your hands
might grow into anything,
or stay nothing at all.

Poet’s Notes:  The title of this poem is borrowed from something Michael Ondaatje said recently https://lithub.com/michael-ondaatjes-golden-man-booker-speech-is-really-great/ when accepting the "Golden Booker" award: "I've not read The English Patient since it came out in 1992 and I suspect, and know more than anyone, that it remains cloudy with errors and pacing." Beyond being struck by the wonderful humility of his statement, it prompted me to explore the idea of how writing is a delayed conversation between writer and reader. An act of catch and release of a moment back into the world, and whatever happens after that is anyone's guess.