Times of Trouble
Our Homeland is being attacked again on all fronts by
War,
by land and sea, by propaganda on all media.
Never a day goes by when the people of Israel are
allowed to live in peace
There are moments when we panic,
understandably,
when cars are rammed randomly into our people
and you can be stabbed anywhere at any time.
Rockets are close by from over the border,
your neighbours, who are your enemies,
have access to chemical and nuclear warfare,
and they use it on their own people
I will keep my faith alight,
The Shekhinah will not leave her people,
and we must continue to support, visit and live in the
Holy Land.
There is no other way
we have no other option,
we cannot abandon ourselves
in times of trouble
Abigail Sarah Bagraim
Du!
Du binst Yinger fun mir,Yo!
Bald a kind meiner in yoren
Aber ich hob dir zeier lieb.
A kerper host du vos
Ich hob lieb tsertlen.
Zaier farlangen tsu halten nont!
Ven mir kussen mein hartz druk vil staighen
Un ich halt dain diche un tsiter
Fun die fagenigen vos volgt
Derum binst du zaier teier!
Maurice Skikne
Under Wraps
Sometimes …
Every now and then
We bare the inner self
Grabbing at laughter and funniness
And teasing and pleasing
And friendship
And sentiment and silliness
To erase the emotions that surface
Ever mindful, ever watchful
Of the sensitive strings
And hidden nerve endings
That tenuously keep us sane.
Don’t expose them
Don’t break them
Hide them: there, deep down, dug-deep,
In the recesses of your senses
In the silent, secret passages of your mind
In the darkest corners of your being
In all that is left behind.
Nurse them
With well-oiled lightness
And frivolous, brazen brightness.
Never let it show. Never let them know
That you’re grief-numb beyond belief
That you’ll grab every scrap of levity
To ensure that not one iota
Or sobriety or self-pity
Still filters through your psyche
Laugh with me. Laugh at me.
But make me laugh!
Look at me. Look beyond me
But not into me.
For that is mine
To nurse and to rehearse
Until the climb is over
That pain is mine.
It belongs solely to me…
But please … make a start
Lift my lead-embedded heart
Bring me a sprig of resuscitating relief
And just for a while
Make me giggle; make me smile.
Smooth into my soul
The salve that soothes.
C’mon … Get a grip
Sober up
And make me laugh.
Charlotte Cohen
(Translation of Yiddish: “You! You are younger than I, Yea!/Almost a child of mine in years/But I love you very much./You have a Torso which/I love to caress./I long much to hold you close/When we kiss my heart pressure rises/And I hold your thighs and tremble/For the pleasure which follows/Thus are you precious to me)
