FALL 2020 "POLITICS" ISSUE
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Editor-in-Chief
Steven Wittenberg
Gordon
Art
Editor
Jason Artemus Gordon
Associate
Editor
James Frederick
William Rowe
Assistant
Editor
Terri Lynn Cummings
Frequent
Contributors
Ross Balcom, Gene
Hodge, John C. Mannone, Karla Linn Merrifield,
Vivian Finley Nida,
Howard Stein, Charles A. Swanson, Tyson West, & Alessio Zanelli
Biographies
of our editorial staff & frequent contributors may be found in the
"Our Staff" page
Unless otherwise indicated, all illustrations are the work of our Art Editor or taken from "royalty-free" open internet sources.
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Table of Contents
A Letter from the
Editor
Poetry
Howard Stein
"Linguistics Lesson, or, Making a List and Checking
It Twice"
Karla Linn Merrifield
"Despite Being Unarmed Is Shot Dead"
James Frederick William Rowe
"Despite Being Unarmed Is Shot Dead"
James Frederick William Rowe
"Pulling Down the Mask"
Shlomo ben Moshe HaLevi
"Good for the Hood?"
Steven Wittenberg Gordon
"The Best Offense"
Terri Lynn Cummings
"Public Memorials"
"The Tree of Liberty Speaks"
Guest Poet Elka-Hannah bat Zvi "Oasis"
Alessio Zanelli
"Kyoto"
"About Colors"
Charles A. Swanson
"The Stick Figure Family Under Threat"
John C. Mannone
"Democratic Socialism"
"The American Eagle"
Gene Hodge
"Gun Control"
Vivian Finley Nida
"Nation of Immigrants"
"The American Eagle"
Gene Hodge
"Gun Control"
Vivian Finley Nida
"Nation of Immigrants"
Poetry
Review
Karla Linn Merrifield
Lyrics of Mature
Hearts,
Edited by Bob McNeil
Frequent Contributor
News
Forthcoming
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A Letter from the Editor
The intention
of the Songs of Eretz Poetry Review Politics
issue is to leverage the gentle art of poetry in order to elevate the level of
debate and discourse between what has become essentially two groups of people
with diametrically opposed points of view on the direction that the world
should be heading--two groups that have stopped listening to each other and
that view each other with dangerous contempt. The small number of poems that made the cut for this issue
represent many different points of view on many controversial topics, but all
of them have the following in common--they are well-written and often clever,
thought-provoking, and supported by source material.
Readers should
find some poems that resonate with their political beliefs and some that most definitely do not. However,
regarding the latter, readers will have the opportunity to develop a deeper
understanding of those who do not share their particular points of view, and
that understanding may lead to a productive dialogue between people who are
currently not even on speaking terms.
And that is the ultimate purpose of political poetry, as I see it.
Shalom,
Shalom,
Steven Wittenberg Gordon
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief
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Poetry
Linguistics Lesson, or, Making a List and Checking
It Twice
Howard Stein
“. . . I shall
go on writing. That is my heroism. I will bear witness, precise witness.”
“It’s not the
big things that are important to me, but the everyday life of tyranny which gets
forgotten. A thousand mosquito bites are worse than a blow to the head. I
observe, note down the mosquito bites.”
--Victor
Klemperer. I Will Bear Witness:
1942-1945, A Diary of the Nazi Years. Random House/ The Modern Library, New
York, 2001, p. 61 & pp. 307-308.
Whispers,
shouts,
In language
supposed to be
Foreign to
this place,
Excluded and
banished –
Totalitarianism
Fascism
Terrorism
Anti-Semitism
White Nationalism
Racism
George Orwell’s 1984 Newspeak
Accompanying
these, are
Straggling lines of fleeing refugees,
Called “invaders,” rapists, and drug smugglers
No longer human beings and members of “huddled masses,”
But insects and viruses
New laws that codify hate
Cleansing government raids and seizures
Children locked in cages “like animals”
Families separated and infants lost to the bureaucracy
Massive barriers
Made of steel
Of hardened hearts
Expulsions
Deportations
Disappearances
Targets on
their backs
You can’t make
it up –
But still you
wonder if you
Are imagining
things.
You think of
the "power of words,"
But then feel
the fist punch
Of “Words of
Power,”
Where truth is
fake and fake is truth,
And “Speak
Truth to Power”
Turns into
“Speak Power to Truth,”
Reality is
what Our Leader
And his Base
say it is,
Loyally
“reported” by Fox News and AM Radio
We are beaten
numb and weary
By daily news
on TV, radio,
Newspapers,
Internet, social media,
Presidential
tweets,
Government
pronouncements,
And Our
Leader’s
Reality-altering
Newspeak
State Terror
has succeeded
Beyond the
right’s fondest hopes.
We have
installed them in the inner spaces:
The idea of
white nationalists
As domestic
terrorists
Is a cruel
fiction;
Only Muslims,
Hispanics, Socialists,
Democrats are
– none of these
Us, but Them.
Projection
rules us
By day and by
night.
Drops of
water,
One by one,
Upon a rock,
Imperceptibly
wear it down,
Make a hollow
Where there
had been
Solid stone.
Even a rock
can
Become
exhausted.
Franz Kafka
would find
A familiar
world here,
Everywhere he
encountered his
Torture
apparatus
From In the
Penal Colony.
The Apparatus
inscribes
Greatness into
the backs
Of all the
souls it executes.
The machine’s
needles
Can etch
anyone it suspects
Of failing to
make American white again.
Even two plus
two
No longer
equal four;
Nothing much
adds up
Anymore.
No difference,
too, between
The seven days
of the week:
Long named
Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday,
Saturday,
Sunday,
Every day has
become None Day.
The Great
Leader now rules time.
We no longer
live in fear;
Each day we
Live The Fear.
It is a living
Presence
Who dwells
among us,
Stalks and
occupies
Our cells and
our souls.
We are its
subjects.
Refs: Chua, A. & Rubenfeld, J. (2018). “The threat of tribalism.” The Atlantic. Vol. 322, 3 October 2018
Lupton,
R., Myers, W. & Thornton, J. (2017); “Republicans are the party of
ideological inconsistency.” Washington
Post, 2 October, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/
Allcorn,
S. & Stein, H. (2017). “The post-factual world of the 2016 American
presidential election: The good, the bad, and the deplorable.” The Journal of Psychohistory, 44 (4):
310-18
Hochschild,
A. (2018). Strangers in their own land:
Anger and mourning on the American right. [Kindle Edition]. New York:
The New Press
Allcorn,
Seth. (2020). “Cultures of Grievance: Creating Polarization from Chosen
Traumas.” The Journal of Psychohistory.
48(1) Summer 2020: 24-40
Allcorn,
Seth and Stein, Howard F. (2018). “Donald Trump, Empty Vessel and Sum of all
Projections.” The Journal of
Psychohistory. 46(1)Summer 2018: 2-16;
Stein,
Howard F. and Allcorn, Seth. (2018). “A Fateful Convergence
Animosity
Toward Obamacare, Hatred of Obama, the Rise of Donald Trump, and Overt Racism
in America.” The Journal of
Psychohistory. 45(4) Spring 2018: 234-243
Allcorn,
Seth. (2020). “Sentience In Contemporary Conservative American Politics.” The Journal of Psychohistory.
47(4) Spring 2020: 276-292
Poet’s Notes:
Poetry is a special way of language. As we near the November 2020 US national
election, it is also worth paying close attention to the language of our times.
This poem attempts to evoke the linguistic atmosphere in which the election
will take place. The euphemisms and disparaging language of President Trump and
his close circle demarcate a carefully guarded boundary between “us” and
“them,” human beings and people imagined and treated as less than human, those
who are inside and those who are outside.
For me, the
familiar has become bizarre; the bizarre has become familiar. My stream of
conscious, almost dream-like, way of thought in this poem, tries to paint a
canvas of what it is like to live in these eerie times and prepare to vote.
Editor's Note: Stein does a
nice job demonstrating how word choices used in tweets and interviews may hurt
others, inflame, dismay, and seed fear within the public arena. TLC
Editor’s Note: Supporters of President Trump would
certainly take issue with just about everything that Howard says and cites in
his poem. However, I would hope that even the most die-hard Trump
supporters would have to admit, however grudgingly, that Howard expresses, what
they would see as, his partisan platitudes with surprising poetic elegance,
and, while they may find the sources he cites to be hopelessly biased (he is even so bold as to cite himself!), he does
at least cite sources.
Howard’s poem
is important for die-hard Trump supporters to contemplate, because the poem gives
such readers the opportunity to understand the state of mind of their
opposition. Apparently, it is a
state of abject fear and loathing.
That toxic mixture of fear and hatred may be absurd and unfounded to supporters
of Trump, but it is palpably real to Howard, and, by extension, his fellow
liberals.
To the extent
that Howard’s poem represents the true feelings of his fellow liberals, it is
unlikely that facts, logic, science, objectivity, or any verbal arguments--however
poetic they may be--will ever be able to overcome such raw and visceral emotion. Only through love, a stronger emotion
than fear and hatred, will the two sides ever be able to agree to agree to
disagree and work together toward the good of all. This will only come about when liberals such as Howard
choose to love our country more than they hate and fear Trump and his
supporters. I believe there is
such a path. Perhaps publishing
Howard’s poem is a first step. SWG
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EDITOR’S WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POEM CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE THAT MANY
READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING. SWG
Despite Being Unarmed Is Shot Dead
Karla Linn Merrifield
School’s
already been cancelled for tomorrow.
MO Gov. Nixon
(D) is speed-dialing his riot
allies
preachers,
National Guard personnel, his
cronies
in the FPD in
advance, aiming to cloak hate in disguises
(velvet cloth
robes, camouflage cotton fatigues, Keflar®
vests).
Once again,
well-armed Cracker team’s nigger trigger
happy,
grinning
already, frothing to flame the flaring rage of hoodied protesters;
they’re geared
up in billy clubs, blacky; tear gas, blacky, rubber bullets, blacky—
and the live
ammo of supremacism on
demand.
On video
posted on YouTube we’ll all be able to Google it,
see
if you will,
the assault on the ghetto they refer to as Gangland;
see, if you
can, the white sheets and burning crosses— see their glee
when the
twitching coon’s 12-shot pistol-lynched until he croaks at
last.
You gonna make something of it, sister? C’mon, kiss my lethal
ass.
Merrifield,
Karla Linn. The Kent Years, Vol. 72.
2014, p.109.
Merrifield,
Karla Linn. The Brockport Years, Vol.
13. 2020, p. 69.
Poet’s Notes: In these days
of the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve been trying to remember all the black
lives that have been lost along the way across the country over many, many
years of relentless racism and horrific and senseless lives lost, believing
every black life matters. I want to honor each one. This poem is a beginning.
Editor’s Note: This is a powerful, unapologetic piece,
much grittier than Karla’s usual verse. Notice the way Karla leverages
racial slurs to drive her points home even harder. This choice of language, while graphic, is not
gratuitous. On the contrary, in
the context of her poem, such language is essential, which is why I left it
intact. SWG
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Pulling Down the Mask
James Frederick William Rowe
It is not a
good thing to lie
Let me tell of
Fauci, lately deified
Hailed Aesculapius, mild god of healing
Better Apollo,
lord of medicine, yet bearer of plague
For when a new
infection descended, but at the time
When its
embers had yet to ignite the dry tinder
Which once lit
would soon engulf all in conflagration
And be not
readily extinguished thereafter
Proclaimed in
deceit that a mask was of no avail
That only
doctors need make use of covering
That the
public may roam free of such a burden
With his
companion general spreading the lie
The deaths of
all whose lungs drown
Hang heavy
round his neck
Though now
obscured by the garlands that have been heaped
Upon this idol
fattened by the sacrifice of victims
One by one fed
To the fire of
fever
Refs: Fauci:
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/502890-fauci-why-the-public-wasnt-told-to-wear-masks
Adams:
https://www.axios.com/surgeon-general-reversal-face-mask-d385e2d5-42b7-433e-89a6-3584f3e61bf3.html
Poet’s Notes: When the pandemic was still in its infancy,
Fauci and Surgeon General Adams decided it would be best to lie to the public
by advising that masks were useless for the general public, because they wanted
to assure that doctors had sufficient protection at a time when masks were in
short supply, despite the fact that the public could have made use of homemade
masks, scarves, bandanas, etc, all which would have provided reasonable
protection from the disease. Had
masks, makeshift or otherwise, been recommended early on, the spread of the
virus would have been slowed or perhaps even stopped. Now, even with social distancing, quarantines, masks, etc.,
the virus is running wild.
Moreover, the
deception served to undermine public faith in masks. When those in authority
tell us one thing, only to reverse that position, our confidence in their
claims is shaken. It galls me to see men who were complicit in government
deceit be hailed as heroes, when they are not heroes, but villains.
This poem came
to me quickly and is filled with references to Greek mythology, reflecting how
much Fauci and Adams have been heralded by so many in terms usually reserved
for holy figures. The near religious veneration of these men is absolutely
absurd, and it is exactly this type of idolatry that I find despicable, when
the facts do not support the apotheosis; indeed, it is dangerous to apotheosize
even great men, for great men are still men, flawed in so many ways that they
are bound to disappoint us.
Editor’s Note: Through his clever and lyric use of
Greek mythology, James gives the subject a larger-than-life epic quality,
exactly what the subject deserves. SWG
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Good for the Hood?
Shlomo ben Moshe HaLevi
How about
(un)Planned Parenthood?
Should we be
funding it?
For ill or for
good,
Let’s consider
what’s under it.
Margaret
Sanger, the ’Hood’s founder,
Could put
Nazis to shame!
A white
supremacist--no flounder,
Targeted
Negroes by name,
And with our
black brothers
The infirm and
the poor
And so many
“others”
All to make
the whites “pure”.
A coincidence
not
Is that PP
locations
Are where
mostly blacks dot
Our nation of
nations.
Just how many
blacks died
Since Roe v
Wade
In the dark
genocide
That Ms. M.
Sanger made?
Twenty million
black babies!
Did I hear you
gasp loudly?
Treated much
worse than scabies--
Exterminated
and proudly.
So view the
proportion
Really cut
through the chatter--
When it comes
to abortion
Do black lives
really matter?
Poet’s Notes: Twenty million black babies have been
legally aborted since Roe v Wade was decided in 1973, making abortion the
leading cause of death among African Americans. Blacks make up 13% of US population but account for 33% of
abortions. Government funding of
Planned Parenthood, which is supported by the Democratic Party and, ironically, by many liberal black politicians and other
African American leaders, is a form of institutional racism.
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The Best Offense
Steven Wittenberg Gordon
Freedom of
speech once began
where polite
and civil speech ended.
One used to
say if one was offended,
“While I
disagree with what you say, my friend,
your right to
say it, I will defend it.”
Now where
perceived offense begins,
freedom of
speech seems to end.
Neither side
will bend,
and the words
that seem to offend
grow more
numerous without end.
There used to
be no penalty
for true words
spoken or penned.
Now one can
lose celebrity,
face threats
and destruction of property,
and lawsuits
without end.
There now is
little free speech left
in the country
that invented it,
and few will
risk being bereft
of their
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor
to stand up
and defend it.
The Declaration of Independence
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Poet’s Notes: These days, with everyone being
offended by everything, one has to watch what one says in a country whose
citizens were once proud to be able to say anything they wanted. Now, saying the wrong thing to the
wrong person or in the wrong place or at the wrong time may result in getting
ostracized, fired, or even “cancelled”.
That is not the America that I once knew and loved. What happened to tolerance? What happened to turning the other
cheek? What happened to appreciating
and leveraging our diversity of opinions?
What happened to the benefit of the doubt? What happened to redemption and second chances? Most of all, what happened to our sense
of humor?
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Public Memorials
Terri Lynn Cummings
Marble,
cement, bronze
Statues
highlight history
Time strikes,
context lost
Collective
strife expunges
Voices shout,
Parity Now
Poet’s Notes: Educated as an anthropologist, I’ve often wondered what (if any)
formal standards exist for the selection and removal of statues (and symbols)
in United States’ public areas. What are the guidelines? Who makes the
decisions?
Until now,
only those in positions of power held authority, which is no longer suitable.
Now that this issue is at the forefront of news, a democratized process for
standards, reviewed over set time periods, is vital for a healthy, culturally
diverse society and its descendants.
Editor’s Note: This is a nicely constructed tanka.
I enjoy the way it poses a question rather than offering an answer--a
question we should ponder as a nation. SWG
The Tree of Liberty Speaks
Terri Lynn Cummings
Though I lack
the wit and wisdom
of those who
elect politicians
I rise from
this republic
which is no
less beautiful
for its murky
roots
Mountains
separate the plains
without
equality in mind
yet lives
settle, unsettle—
debates
permissible
and no less
beautiful
Humans arrive
at the same
ravine, disband
walk out of
step
follow
different paths
one no less
beautiful than another
They lean on
me
I was never
meant to stand
for anything
other than democracy
No matter the
season
I am no less
beautiful
Clouds shake
hands or storm vacant air
resemble a
tree or something improbable
change
powering through
the rise and
fall of leaders—
sunrise no
less beautiful than sunset
Poet’s Notes: I wanted this poem to offer something positive to consider.
Originally, I wrote it without identifying the speaker. Once I understood it
was the Liberty Tree, it all came together.
Colonists in
Boston staged the first defiant act against British government at what became
known as the Liberty Tree in 1765. The famous elm became a rallying point for
colonial resistance. For more information, go to
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-behind-forgotten-symbol-american-revolution-liberty-tree-180959162/.
In the third
stanza, first line, I chose the word Humans over People due to the racial bias
of some signatory parties of the Declaration
of Independence, United States Constitution, and Bill of Rights. For more information, go to https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4617&context=caselrev.
Editor’s Note: I like the positive, non-partisan
message here. SWG
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"The outbreak has temporarily shifted the two sides from
squabbling over the ‘deal of the century’ to cooperating against the ‘pandemic
of the century,’ though bitter political differences continue to cause
tensions."
Oasis
Elka-Hannah bat Zvi
under the blue
Bedouin draping
hanging like
stalactites
in an
underground cave of metal slats
my Arab car
wash brims with
noise
wetness shadowy figures
in skinny
jeans, I sit on a once elegant
now patched
soft brown leather sofa
previewing the
screening of Israel in my mind
lean dark-eyed
Arab men
jump
twist turn-about-and-around
out of
into cars jeeps vans pick-ups
hold hoses
barely under control
spewing out
from vehicles
sand
earth grime jet power
creating
waterfalls c a s c a d I n g
ersatz
Icelandic wonderlands
pools gather
at my sneakers
tease my
ankles with flash flooding dangers
cool spray
foam bathes my eyelids
glides along
my cheeks
I have known
these men for years
fathers
sons nephews uncles
smile
greet me offering sweet dark
thick coffee
from cracked delicate chinaware
pass me photos
on cell phones
of children
entering school
teenagers
sporting trim pants
stylish
haircuts daughters as brides
my hosts raise
their fingertips as dancers
sing songs of
light--send gentle kisses heavenward
from lips
which harden tight suddenly
if they sense,
though rare, insult derision
they inquire
why I have been
so long in
coming to them
almost a
year’s gone by
they missed
me--feel glad I am back
I tell them
about my hurt knee
do not mention
the knife intifada
from that same
time which anyway
would have
kept me distant from them
I am ashamed
in this
welcoming warm tent
to realize my
faith in them is fragile
as Irish
Belleek pottery vases
impossible to
hear in this Israel in my mind
“occupation”
“honor killing” ”terror”
“hate” sounded
over the din--sips of
sweet
coffee photos droplets of water
day by day we
share this our land
I imagine they
would protect me with their lives
I would not
shortchange them ever for anything
my car gleams
we bless each
other
I drive away
promising to
return soon
make a turn out of the village
open the window
reach my hand down
stroke the dust
settling over the
sheen
Ref.: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/coronavirus-on-the-israeli-palestinian-scene-part-1-the-west-bank-and-east
Poet’s Notes:
Sometimes a good line, “everyone needs a
safe place,” “would Sarah taste luxuriously tangy,” or a dream brings forth a
poem. In the instance of "Oasis", I was occupying myself with an
ordinary, not at all out of the routine task, when suddenly, without warning, lightning
or thunder, I found myself in an orchestra seat at the Metropolitan Opera House
watching, let’s say Aida. The stage’s
breadth, depth, a profusion of characters, opulent settings were everywhere
apparent.
"Oasis"
overflows with people, objects, and happenings, which appear before the speaker
as she waits to retrieve her sparkling clean car. Once my brain imagined the
site of my Arab car wash as a Bedouin tent, it seemed possible that Carmen
would enter stage front, right, at any moment.
The taste and
tone of the poem emerges from the steaming, thick, dark, sweet coffee being
served. Moods dark and sweet are present in each image and line; they create
the poem’s paradox and tension.
When I
returned home from what I had witnessed, I wrote out a kind of movie script,
say Tarus Bulba, of a film I might have just seen on the huge screen of Radio
City Music Hall. I first called the poem, “the Israel in my mind”; I knew right
away it was the Israel of my hope and fear.
"Oasis"
portrays realities on the ground as well as visions of what may, or may never,
be fully realized. I wanted the poem to have the look and feel of something
beautiful, rugged and fragile, wondrous to hold that might smash to pieces on a
concrete floor.
I asked
myself, once I had completed the writing, if the poem related too many details.
I came to see that I desired "Oasis" to express a full measure of
Israel’s sensual, practical, and surreal qualities. My Arab car wash is the
nexus of redemption, however defined, and the dust of the earth.
Editor’s Note: This poem is beautifully written and
works in a literal as well as metaphorical sense. I find the reference
most interesting, as there has been little to no coverage of the topic in the
United States. I especially enjoy this poem, as it is one of only a few that contains even a ray of optimism or hope. SWG
About the Poet: Elka-Hannah bat Zvi’s writings,
formerly bylined, Joanne Jackson Yelenik, have appeared in Adanna, the Moon, Arc, Voices Israel, and various anthologies.
Whenever opportunities arise again to teach, she does so with the same passion
for literature and history that marked her style in the classroom for over
thirty-five years. Her garden and the nearby Judean Hills are favorite locales
for writing, tea, and contemplation.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kyoto
Alessio Zanelli
The world's
still turning. Faster. Upside down.
The Geishas
keep on gaiting round Gion.
The headlines
keep on blotting paper sheets.
The heat.
Tornados. Landslides. Floodings. Droughts.
The timer's
ticking. Treaties. Thunberg. Trump.
Poet’s Notes: This poem is a blank-verse cinquain.
Editor’s Note: I enjoy the relentless rhythm of this
piece. SWG
About Colors
Alessio Zanelli
White is a byproduct of black.
Science says that.
It's simply evolution.Lasting 8,000 years.
White can be good or bad.
Black can be good or bad.
Any color can be good or bad.
We all should come to terms with that.
Color ain't the issue.
Humanity is.
Acceptance of whatever color is.
Will you consent to that?
We all should come to terms with that.
Color ain't the issue.
Humanity is.
Acceptance of whatever color is.
Will you consent to that?
Either white or black?
Or any other color?
It all comes down to "will you be good or bad?"
Remember.
Lasting 8,000 years.
It's simply evolution.
Science says that.
White is a byproduct of black.
Or any other color?
It all comes down to "will you be good or bad?"
Remember.
Lasting 8,000 years.
It's simply evolution.
Science says that.
White is a byproduct of black.
Poet’s Notes: I wrote this poem in March 2019, long
before the recent, sad events that aroused disorder and violence across the US.
Actually, it bears no connection with any specific event. Rather, it originates
from a scientific truth, to then assume a socio-political value, aspiring to subvert
one of the main assumptions on which racial prejudice still rests.
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The Stick Figure Family Under Threat
Charles A. Swanson
Curiosity Sends Jim to His Computer
--“Family
Stick Figure Decal Car Window Sticker
$1.49 per Figure!!!” – recent ad on eBay
He searches
the Internet, googling
images.
What he’s seen
seems
ironic—the childlike family,
a simple group
of sticks
made into dad,
mom, children
on the back of
an SUV,
but in this
case, being blown up,
blown to
smithereens.
At the red
light, right before his car,
on the
proverbial
soccer mom
vehicle, a nuclear
family
disintegrated.
So he
searches. “No one cares about
your stick figure family!”
over and
over—with cars impaling,
dinosaurs
snacking,
ninjas in
black masks wielding swords,
zombies eating
babies,
Jason chasing,
the chainsaw revving up.
Or our own
inflictions:
Families with
mom or dad missing,
“Position
open.”
Families with
the vilest beginnings,
He sneers like
a rapist,
“Making my
family,” she, bent over
helpless.
Is this dad?
Is mom a
victim? Jim shakes his head
as he scrolls
down the page.
He sees
another, dad and mom,
normal
(maybe?), daughter
leg around a
pole, selling herself,
son sold,
crashing on drugs.
He searches,
discovers he can buy
his own stick
figure unit,
choose for
tender familial feelings,
or choose for
freaking fear.
Poet’s Notes:
During these days of COVID-19, the
family is under new kinds of threat. Domestic abuse is on the rise
because of quarantines, as reported by a quick search on the Internet.
One such article explaining the rise of domestic violence can be found in an
article by Macien Stanley in Psychology
Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/making-sense-chaos/202005/why-the-increase-in-domestic-violence-during-covid-19.
In the article, Stanley notes the surprise of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
that abuse and quarantine would go hand-in-hand, but Stanley argues that the
rise in domestic violence is predictable.
I suggest that
the potential for domestic violence can be seen on the back windows of vehicles
on the highway. Just google images of stick figure family decals, and
you’ll see artwork of violence and abuse https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=stick%20figure%20family%20decals&qs=n&form=QBIRMH&sp=-1&pq=stick%20figure%20family%20decals&sc=5-26&cvid=EF71F9E2F1B946048B4A9052DB8D61C9&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover.
Our families are fractured.
Certainly,
domestic violence is not strictly a Republican or Democratic issue, though the
response to families and family structures becomes politically charged.
Now, the debate centers around the re-opening of schools, with teachers in
areas such as Pinellas County, Florida, rallying to keep schools closed https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/pinellas-teachers-rally-to-keep-schools-closed-as-covid-19-cases-climb/vi-BB16JANi.
As administrators and teachers attempt to create and refine plans for
education, parents are struggling with decisions about what to do with their
children. How will they juggle work, child-care, and child
instruction? The problem becomes even more difficult to solve in rural
spaces where the Internet is not readily available, and impoverished homes
where no laptop or stand-alone computer exists.
I have long
thought that our push toward families where both parents go to work leaves us
with a terribly enormous unanswered question: What will we do with the
children? Parents have had to solve this question through creative means,
but they have to be even more resourceful in these days as their traditional
support systems, such as public schooling, fail to provide coherent answers.
As we see the
stick figure family under threat (no matter how dark one’s sense of humor), we
see the living American family under threat as well. I find it hard to
laugh.
Editor’s Note: Charles masterfully takes an important
issue and through his poetry evokes an emotional response in the reader.
At the same time, his citations show he is coming from not just a place of
feelings but of unfortunate facts. SWG
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Democratic Socialism
John C. Mannone
The crossword
puzzle clue
for 4-Down
inked in the pulp
paper was
uninvited guests at a picnic.
“Ants” filled
in the spaces
between the
donuts on the table
under the
black sweet gum tree.
They beat the
buzz of flies
and yellow
jackets (preoccupied
with an open
7-Up can).
But some
insects
might teach us
something
about social
behavior.
At least they
share, the truth
of it as a
good for all
which doesn’t
bug everyone
except those
that don’t have
any nectar
left.
When the bees
run out
of food and
the greedy drones
diminish all
reserves, the hive
settles in for
the winter
to conserve
but the sad truth is
that many will
still die.
Poet’s Notes: I find the
term Democratic Socialism an oxymoron, since it is built on two contradictory
concepts or ideologies
http://www.coastalview.com/opinion/democratic-socialism-is-an-oxymoron/article_88cf7566-6d37-11e9-b677-bb2181222b11.html.
This metaphorical poem tries to elucidate that. Even among the social insects,
actions that are meant for the good of all are still disastrous for many
individuals. There are opportunities to abuse power/economics in both
capitalism and communism, and everything in between, because of human nature.
The lines, “But
some insects/might teach us something/about social behavior”, allude to an old
concept. For example, in “Ants Are
Communists as Hell,” Oscar Schwartz discusses a 1923 study by Swiss scientist
Auguste-Henri Forel, an outspoken socialist, called, “The Social World of Ants
Compared with That of Man”, where the world of ants is a model for human
societies defined by mutual regard, communal distribution of labor, and
selfless hard work https://theoutline.com/post/5974/ants-helping-each-other-survive-and-thrive?zd=1&zi=2gvfdglv.
This communal notion is referenced in the lines, “At least they share, the
truth/of it as a good for all”, yet this altruism had perplexed Darwin. Francis L. W. Ratnieks and Heikki
Helanterä discuss this in “The evolution of extreme altruism and inequality in
insect societies”. Ironically, such societies evolved with remarkable
inequality https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781879/. In the poem,
I cite such an imbalance with the lines, “When the bees run out/of food and the
greedy drones/diminish all reserves.” In the “Battle of the Drones,” Karl von Frisch
alerts us to Wilhelm Busch, a German poet, who referred to the drones as lazy,
stupid, fat, and greedy
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-social-insects-1968157.
Editor’s Note: John develops an excellent poetic
conceit here to drive home his points demonstrating how democratic socialism is
an “oxymoron”. SWG
The American Eagle
John C. Mannone
The eagle once
had landed
on the Moon,
and on the Earth
from the
majesty of blue skies
with its white
clouds and red
sunsets, it
soared as high as
dignity and as
fierce as hope
with a snake
in its talons—
that viper
will no longer
spit venom
into the world,
but there are
many serpents
in a world
that’s turned
monochrome
under canvas
cloth mask of
a carnival tent
where skies
morphed to viral
gray, and the
great eagle,
to a dark
shadow.
Yet despite
new ways of living
in a black and
white world,
it still
perches on top of a green
dollar bill.
Poet’s Notes: In these times of change, everything
that we embrace, and that the American eagle represents, is threatened. Yet,
there is a certain irony of the eagle on our printed money, which drives so
many things, even our own economic promise or demise, especially in the context
of the globalized dollar. Politicians have further divided this great nation,
reducing everything to black and white.
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Gun Control
Gene Hodge
There was only
one gun
in our house
while growing up.
Dad’s 22,
single shot rifle
hidden beneath
his bed.
Us kids knew
where it rested,
but none went
near it—
we knew the
danger.
He never
hunted,
and only took
it out
late one night
when a thug
threatened the family.
That was gun
control . . .
Simple . . .
to respect
and to
protect.
Editor’s Note: Regardless of where one stands on the
gun control debate, one should always stand for proper science. Both sides would do well to read the
article that Gene cites here.
I will now comment
on Gene’s choice of the word “thug” in the last line of the first stanza. As used here, Gene uses the most common
definition, which is “a violent criminal”
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&q=thug+definition. He certainly does not mean “thug” in
the black counterculture slang sense--if he did, his poem would not have
appeared in Songs of Eretz. SWG
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Nation of Immigrants
Vivian Finley Nida
Each year a
million immigrants do stay
Their wave
starts far away and surges here
Five years, no
benefits are sent their way
but when it
comes to life, the mission’s clear
All hospitals
must offer urgent care
If pregnant,
WIC takes care of pre and post
Emergencies
leave Medicaid to bear
This costs
about two billion for the host
but immigrants
pay tax, America
four hundred
billion dollars, so admired
A trillion
spent—good moral character
As business
owners, seven million hired
America
remains the land of free
and immigrants
extend prosperity
Poet’s Notes: Naturalized citizens are not entitled to federal benefits for the
first five years of their citizenship; however, they still pay taxes.
Many own businesses. According to
Pew Research Foundation, about 44 million immigrants live in America, 13.6% of the
population. While immigrants pay more in taxes than they use in benefits, the
survey also found that about a fourth of Americans view them as a financial
burden (while 62% believe they strengthen the country with their talents and
work ethic) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/.
Editor’s Note: Our "Sonnet Queen’s" Shakespearean sonnet
is impeccable as usual, and Vivian expertly leverages the form to get her
points across to the reader. Her references reinforce her thesis and make
for interesting reading as well.
I chose to end the Poetry section with this poem to remind readers that, just as this one issue of Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is made of many diverse poems, so too are these United States of America and by extension all of Eretz made up of many good people with many points of view. Out of many, one--e pluribus unum. SWG
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Poetry Review
Lyrics of Mature Hearts, Edited by Bob McNeil
Reviewed by Karla Linn Merrifield
To hell with ageism, which has worsened with so many other aspects of
our society during the https://www.blogger.com/null COVID
Era! We’re alive, we’re human, and we love until the day we die.
Lyrics of Mature Hearts, edited by Bob
McNeil (2019 Gordon P. Bois, Espanola, Ontario, Canada, 59 pages) is an
anthology that candidly deals with adulthood, full of uplifting, noble, and
poignant poems that are deeply human and genuine, written by seniors whose
entire bodies, entire existences, are “mature.” Readers will find
thirty-four poems in five sections from twenty-six diverse poets in the
most-at-risk demographic who dare to write about the love. I am proud
that one of my own poems appears within its pages.
This is truly an anthology that strums and plucks its way into the
reader’s heart. “Silence screams like sirens on a shady Saturday night.”
Sssssssss! The alliteration works! The line is from C. Liegh McInnis’ “House of
Silence.” C. Liegh’s long-lined poem has a sestina feel to it; it rolls through
you.
Who isn’t craving a good, long hug from a friend these days,
especially if you have no spouse or children at home? So the three words, “Just
hold me,” thump the heart. I greatly admire Jean Parrish’s poem, “Just hold me,”
a poem of utter simplicity whose title is that poem’s closing line. I don’t
know where she lives or how she’s spent her life to date, but her bio in Lyrics tells me she’s been a poetry
lover since grammar school. She writes poetry as therapy, as so many of
us do.
I wish I could give you a taste of every poem and acquaint you,
albeit briefly, with all the poets, but I will complete this sampler with a
line from my poem, “The Caretaker”--“dementia leaves no trace.” The poem
reflects a lesson learned when I was caring for my beloved husband in his dying
days. He’s been gone nigh on three years now but alive in my heart. The poem is
a tribute to his struggles with that debilitating disease.
I encourage you to obtain this big-hearted anthology and sit with it
over a cuppa, a stein, or a martini glass, and savor the hope brought to you by
big-hearted editor Bob McNeil. Lyrics
of Mature Hearts is available in paperback for $9.99 and for free viewing
on Kindle; purchases via Amazon may be made here https://www.amazon.com/Lyrics-Mature-Hearts-Poetry-Anthology/dp/1708365354/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Lyrics+of+Mature+Hearts&qid=1591121879&sr=8-1.
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Frequent Contributor News
Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to announce
the following publications by current and former Frequent Contributors.
the following publications by current and former Frequent Contributors.
FC Ross Balcom
Ross’
poem, "Jenkin", appeared in Spectral
Realms #13 (Summer 2020).
Assistant Editor Terri Lynn Cummings
Terri’s
poem, “Alone,” appeared on August 15, 2020, in Issue XXI of High Shelf Press.
Former FC Mary Soon Lee
Mary’s
poem, "A Quartet of Alphabetic Babbles," appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction,
July/August 2020.
Her
short story, "Redemption," appeared in Fireside Quarterly, Summer 2020,
https://firesidefiction.com/redemption.
Her
poem, "Dear Arithmetic," appeared in Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 10, Issue 2, July 2020
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol10/iss2/29/.
Her
poem, "How to Stop Being a Star," appeared in Uppagus #41, August 2020, https://uppagus.com/poems/soon-lee-stop/. Her poem, "How to Observe the
Horsehead Nebula," appeared in Uppagus
#40, June 2020 https://uppagus.com/poems/soon-lee-observe/.
Two of
her poems, "How to Time Travel", and "How to Notice a Dark
Nebula," were anthologized in the 2020
Dwarf Stars Anthology. Three
of her poems, "Champion", and "Museums of Earth", and
"What Phoenixes Read", appeared in Star*Line #43.3, Summer 2020. Her poem, "Shapeshifter", appeared in Eye to the Telescope #37, July 2020.
Finally,
her short story, "Catastrophe", appeared in Frozen Wavelets #3, June 2020
https://frozenwavelets.com/issue-2-2/catastrophe-by-mary-soon-lee/.
Former FC Lauren McBride
Lauren,
our former “Queen of Short Form Poems”, has two articles, "The Not So
Simple Cinquain" and "Hay(na)ku/Sci(na)ku - Six Word Poetry,"
included in Minimalism: A Handbook of
Minimalist Genre Poetic Forms edited by Teri Santitoro, Hiraeth Publishing
https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/minimalism-a-handbook-of-minimalist-genre-poetic-forms. Lauren also had four poems in Scifaikuest, August 2020, two in the
print issue and two online at
https://www.hiraethsffh.com/scifaikuest-online-august-2020.
Her poem,
"New Earth's Many Moons", was included in the 2020 Dwarf Stars Anthology.
Her poem, "still learning", appeared in Star*Line, 43.1, Summer 2020.
Lauren’s
100-word short story, "Essentially the Best Deal Ever", earned an
Honorable Mention in Drabble Harvest
#15.
Her
poem, "Off We Go", appeared in Spaceports
& Spidersilk, June 2020.
Finally,
her poem, "A Planet's Complaint", appeared in Abyss & Apex, 75, Summer 2020.
https://www.abyssapexzine.com/2020/06/a-planets-complaint/.
FC Karla Linn Merrifield
Anti-Heroin
Chic published her “Sestina for a Gunslinger”, and “The Metric I Use Is
Knopfler’s ’61 Strat.”
Finally, Mason
Street Review published her poem, “Moving in the Direction of Normal.”
FC Howard Stein
Howard’s
poetry collection, Presence--Poems from
Ghost Ranch (Santa Fe, NM, Terra Nova Books, Golden Word Books imprint),
was published in June. Several of the poems in it were originally
published in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review.
Also in June, Howard published another book, co-authored with his long-time
friend, colleague, and co-author Seth Allcorn, entitled, The Psychodynamics of Toxic Organizations: Applied Poetry, Stories, and
Analysis (Routledge, UK). Both books are available at
Amazon.com. A poem, also co-authored with Seth Allcorn, "River of
Snow", was published in the August 2020 issue of AWEN (Issue 109).
Two of
Howard’s poems, "Refugees", and "Unclaimed," were published
in June in the poetry book, What They Bring:
The Poetry of Migration and Immigration, edited by Irene Willis and Jim
Haba (New York, International Psychoanalytic Books).
FC Alessio Zanelli
Alessio’s
poem, "Season of Women", was published in the 2020 edition of Artemis (Floyd, VA) http://www.artemisjournal.org/store/.
Another
of his poems appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of California Quarterly (Vol. 46, No. 1).
Mediterranean Poetry published two of his poems https://www.odyssey.pm/.
Two
more poems of his were published in Red
Earth Review, Vol. VIII, 2020
https://www.okcu.edu/artsci/departments/english/redearthmfa/red-earth-review/.
A poem
of his appeared in the latest issue of Blueline
http://bluelineadkmagazine.org/.
Finally,
Spinozablue published three poems of
his https://spinozablue.com/campari-smiles-for-lasagna-new-poems-by-alessio-zanelli/.
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| Lana the Poetry Dog |
Forthcoming
Songs of Eretz Poetry Review will open
again for submissions from October 25 - November 15, 2020 for our winter edition,
which will be published in mid-December 2020. Our Associate Editor, James Frederick William Rowe, will be
the lead editor for the issue. The
theme of our winter issue will be "spring".
Let that sink in for a bit.
A spring-themed winter issue? As much
as winter is to be enjoyed and celebrated for its light in the darkness and
warmth in the coldness, and for its stark if often monochromatic beauty, deep
in our hearts during winter, we long for the colorful rebirth that comes with spring. The intention of our fourth quarter
issue will be to bring a little bit of the spirit of spring into winter, in the
same way that the devout Jews attempt to bring a little bit of the spirit of
the Sabbath into the mundane days of the week--a havdalah for the season.
The issue will
feature Alessio Zanelli, easily the most world-famous and prolific poet ever to
grace the pages of Songs of Eretz with his beautiful poetry, and it will be the last time that Alessio will appear in Songs of Eretz as a Frequent Contributor. It has been a privilege to have this
Italian poet, for whom English is a second language, as a Frequent Contributor
for the past three years. Fans and
followers of his work will not want to miss this special tribute to this fine
poet.
The original paintings and drawings (and prints of them) created by our Art Editor Jason Artemus Gordon and used for the illustrations in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review are available for purchase with and without copies of the poems that inspired them. Please query Editor@SongsOfEretz.com for details.
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