Song: Private Dance (Rikud Prati)

I finally had the opportunity to upload to YouTube a clip with the song I wrote earlier this year as a wedding gift for my wife’s sister and her husband.

The song was beautifully composed by Liron Grossman a singer/songwriter.

And was performed at the wedding party as a surprise by Liron and the very talented  Yoli Kesten-Harel.

Poem: Memories from the Green Mill

This one i wrote in June of 2005. Strangely enough, I haven’t marked down the exact date of its writing even though I’ve started doing that long before.

I was reminded of this poem just the other day from speaking to a friend about being in Chicago and visiting its Jazz clubs.

I have to say that I have very fond memories of Chicago, it was a wonderful time and I found a really great city to experience and enjoy as well as meeting very interesting people while being there.

Favorite Poems of the Day Up to Date: 21/08/2009

As some of you know I’ve taken upon myself to try and publish a link to a poem i like per day on Twitter: #PoemOfTheDay.

Admittedly, I havent been able to keep it up everyday since I started but I did manage  to share quite a few over the past few months.

I’d like to take the opportunity to collect some of my personal recent favorites in this post.

Enjoy!

August 19th 2009 – “Metallic Wing” by Efrat Mishori: http://tinyurl.com/mdlv57 – “Metallic wing in its socket, beating unseen.”

August 18th 2009 – “Pleasure for Pleasure” by Peter Stavropoulos: http://bit.ly/3Y7S4O – “…Pleasure for pleasure will surely start”

August 13th 2009 – “Night Heron” by Samuel Peralta: http://bit.ly/rtZ1m – “rising from the waters / like a dream.”

August 11th 2009 – “Sonnet 56” by William Shakespeare: http://bit.ly/hPEcw – “Sweet love, renew thy force! Be it not said…”

August 10th 2009 – “from: Prayers of Atonement” by Lea Goldberg http://bit.ly/klx4t -”If there were torments–then they voyaged toward you”

August 3rd 2009 – “Endless Poem” by Yehuda Amichai: http://bit.ly/jGQ7o – “Within me / My heart / Within my heart / A museum”

July 30th 2009 – “Listening” by Amy Lowell: http://bit.ly/1K8pK – “‘T is you that are the music, not your song…”

July 27th 2009 – “The Garden” by Mark Strand: http://bit.ly/rSKuf – “it shines: even now in the moment before it disappears.”

July 26th 2009 – “Song of Hope” by Thomas Hardy: http://bit.ly/n4rlU – “To-morrow shines soon -Shines soon!”

July 21st 2009 – “On Pain” by Khalil Gibran: http://bit.ly/vmHgr – “…your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy…”

July 17th 2009 - “Petals” by Amy Lowell: http://twurl.nl/s5v6ai – “…Petal by petal the flower of our heart…”

July 16th 2009 – “When the Eyes Open” by Dahlia Ravikovitz: http://bit.ly/Z8Re0 -”as the soul returns to the body when the eyes open.”

July 15th 2009 – “Touched by an Angel” by Maya Angelou: http://bit.ly/uAerx – “Yet it is only love which sets us free.”

July 12th 2009 – “A Pearl, a Girl” by Robert Browning: http://bit.ly/6rDpB -”…Through the love in a girl!”

July 10th 2009 – “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duffy: http://bit.ly/YMoIj -”I give you an onion. It is a moon wrapped in brown paper…”

July 4th 2009 – “Moonwalk” by Samuel Peralta : http://bit.ly/4sbHqx -”…The words begin to form a song / The melody begins to burn…”

July 3rd 2009 – “Wild Nights” by Emily Dickinson: http://bit.ly/qOMhk -”…Wild nights should be Our luxury!…”

July 1st 2009 – “If You Forget Me” by Pablo Neruda: http://bit.ly/1j9EgT -”if each day,each hour,you feel that you are destined for..”

Poem: Distant Thoughts

This one i wrote in June 2004:

The standard disclaimers apply, the poem was originally written in Hebrew therefore the translation may lose or change some of the meanings, rhyming, wordplay, etc.

~ Distant Thoughts ~

Lost,
Cannot find her
She won’t come back to me
No gentle word will be enough.
Drowning,
Air is no longer found
The will to breathe gone as well
My life is where she is
And she is gone.
Blind,
No light is strong enough
No scream in the dark is heard
It is just the wind blowing in the gaping hole
She was mine but no more.
Stumbling,
Step after step
Direction unknown
She will not be there when I arrive
Where will that be – doesn’t matter.
Dreaming,
The Images a blur
Like leafs a moment before the storm
What was – that was no dream
As real as pain
Pain of loss and longing
The dream slowly dissipates
Not Breaking,
Not whole either
A piece is distant and missing
Even when the wound heals
The scar will remain to remind me
And she, she will also be with me.

The original Hebrew version:

~ מחשבות רחוקות ~

אבדתי,
אינני מוצא אותה
שוב אלי היא לא תחזור
שום מילה עדינה לא תספיק.
טובע,
האוויר גם הוא לא בנמצא
והרצון לנשום גם הוא נעלם
חיי היכן שהיא תהיה
והיא איננה.
עיוור,
אף אור לא חזק מספיק
אף צעקה בחושך איננה נשמעת
רק הרוח המנשבת בחלל שנפער
שלי הייתה אך לא עוד.
מועד,
צעד אחר צעד
הכיוון אינו ידוע
אך היא לא תהיה שם כשאגיע
גם לא תהיה שם לפני שאלך
לאן – זה כבר לא משנה.
חולם,
התמונות מסתחררות
כמו העלים רגע לפני שהסערה מגיעה
אך מה שהיה לא חלום הוא
אמיתי כמו הכאב
כאב של אובדן וגעגוע
אט אט מתפוגג לו החלום.
לא נשבר,
אך גם לא שלם באמת
משהו חסר ותמיד רחוק
גם שהפצע יחלים
הצלקת תשאר להזכיר לי
והיא, גם היא תשאר איתי.

Poem: Love is Possible

This is one i wrote today: 29/07/2009  (on the way to work).

~ Love is Possible ~

Walking down the street alone
The throng around me pulses
A pretty girl passes by
Is there a small smile for me
Hiding in her weary expression?
Walking resumes, I never stopped
Nevertheless I resume.
The letters on the street wall say:
“Love is Possible”
No question mark, it’s just there
Why do the letters seem to quiver?
Three little words
Words giving hope, words obliterating consciousness
Do these words lie to me?
Go on walking, I didn’t stop
Yet I continue.
“LOVE IS POSSIBLE”
I shout to the foggy air
There is no doubt in the sound
Then why does my voice quiver?
The echo seems to mock me
Did my heart lie?
Is that the sun behind rolling clouds?
Will it shine for me?

Poem: In Love’s Defense

This one i wrote today: 18/07/2009.

Enjoy.

~ In Love’s Defense ~

In love’s defense,
she was here first
Long before we came along
She was never ours to hold
She never belonged to us
but to the world
Belonged to the butterflies’ wings
and to the tree tops’ wind
Our claim on her was never just
All our praises never enough
In Love’s defense,
She never presumed to be more
than what she is
Never asked for anything in return
Not once ridiculed our ethereal groping
Her light continues to elude
our ever present darkness
She dances between music notes
Swims in life’s deep currents
She is free
for us to enjoy
She is here
for us to share
Never own
In love’s defense -
She is LOVE.

Poem: The Red Swan

This one i wrote and dedicated to my girlfriend many a year ago, unfortunately the accurate date is long ago forgotten in the winds of time. But i do know that this is one of the very first poems ive written, about 10 years ago.

The girlfriend is now my beloved wife by the way…

The standard disclaimer apply, the poem was originally written in Hebrew therefore the translation may lose or change some of the meanings, rhyming, wordplay, etc.

~ The Red Swan ~

To her lake I arrived in full armor
Unwilling to reveal any of the things
those that in the heart harbor,  that at night
float with the thought and wonder
of what shall yet be, with the pursue of meaning.

Slowly the armor and walls dissolve
in her lake I began to tread in the shallows
I entered further and the water at heart’s level
the heart that although less, still aches
Then I saw her, the angel, gliding,
dancing upon the water.

She, the noble red swan, so sensitive
looking at me with those beautiful brown eyes
and in a sort of dance we’re approaching
closer now, touching, checking, seeking
those sensitive areas
still not completely revealing.

In our lake hours and then days pass
words and more words
the water that were cold are now hot
but only each other we feel
its heart to heart now and words are no longer necessary
she is mine and I’m hers, she – the red swan
perhaps a word is required
word so sweet, paramount, one word – LOVE
And now to understand the meaning of loving the swan.

The original Hebrew version:

~ ברבורה אדומה ~

אל האגם שלה הגעתי בשריון קשקשים
לא מוכן לגלות את אותם הדברים
הדברים שבלב מסתתרים שרק בלילה
עולים עם אותן מחשבות ותהיות
על מה הולך להיות? ותמיד חיפוש משמעויות.

לאט לאט ירד השריון וכל המגנים נעלמים
ובתוך האגם שלה התחלתי לשחות במים הרדודים
נכנסתי עוד פנימה והמים בגובה הלב
שלמרות שפחות עדיין כואב
וראיתי אותה את אותה מלאך משמיים
שוחה לה, רוקדת על פני המים.

ברבורה אדומה אצילית, רגישה
מסתכלת עלי בעיניים חומות, יפות
ובמין ריקוד יפה שכזה אנו מתקרבים
זו אל זה, נוגעים, בודקים, בוחנים
את אותם מקומות רגישים
אבל עדיין לא הכל מגלים.

באגם שלנו שעות, ימים עוברים ומילים ועוד מילים
והמים הקרים הופכים חמים, לוהטים
אבל אנו רק זו את השני מרגישים
רק לב אל לב ואפילו מילים איננו צריכים
והיא שלי ואני שלה, היא אותה ברבורה אדומה
ואולי בכל זאת צריכים איזו מילה
מילה חשובה, מתוקה, המילה אהבה.
ולהבין את כל המשמעויות בלאהוב את אותה ברבורה.