Sun Kissed Days

Sun Kissed Days

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Watching From Heaven



Dad,
you would have given me the moon
if you could,
lasso it down and hold it in
your palm to light my way.
You told me tales of horses with
broken spirits,
knowing that mine was one.
You kissed me goodnight thousands
of nights always telling me that you loved me.
You inspired me,
believed in me,
forgave me.
You delighted in my words,
encouraged my abstract thoughts.
You were a giant of a man,
you were always there. 
Dad,
I wish I could find the small Italian restaurant,
on the side street by the Thames river
in London.
The sounds of the city were left outside,
wet we took refuge
from the rain.
We feasted on pasta and roasted chicken,
as if we climbed into one of the
Botticelli paintings we saw that day.
Warm, the colors lifting our spirits.
We were delighted in the moment
and a day filled with beauty.
I want to walk into the past,
and find you there in spirit.
I want to replay our conversation,
the sights and sounds.
I want to sit down
with my dog eared notebook,
and write poetry that you would love,
poetry that you can see from heaven.
Dad,
you loved London,
she seeped into your heart
and claimed it.
You repeated a quote,
"when a man is tired of London,
he is tired of life", 
it resonated in your soul,
because she felt like home.
I want to go to her ,
and breathe her again,
and feel you walk beside me.
I want to go to her,
and find you there in spirit
and know that you are still watching me from where you are
in heaven. 



This is dedicated to my dad. On May 10th it will be five years since he passed away. Since then I have missed him every day and thought of him a hundred times a day. He died suddenly and we never got to say goodbye. So many milestones that he has missed. My brothers, my children, the entire family miss him terribly. My mom joined him a year after he passed. We hope they are sharing eternity together. We miss them both.  Please meet us here http://dversepoets.com/ where we share our thoughts and our hearts. 


 

Monday, April 22, 2013

Boston Strong



Morning dawns
with a new promise.
He stretches in his sleep,
as I watch the rain
dancing on my window.
I inhale coffee from a tall cup.
I wake him with a gentle touch
and tender words.
A week ago,
the world shattered for so many.
He has watched and listened
to images of terror,
sadness seeping into his big 
brown eyes.
He felt compassion for 
the lives lost,
for the lives injured.
He felt pride that his brother
is a doctor in this wonderful city.
A week ago our world changed,
the rhythm of the city silenced, 
our flags pressed against our chest.
Our land sighed,
our land ached.
We remember the victims,
smiling from old photographs.
Children kneeling by a candlelight vigil,
mothers holding hands tighter.
We remember the injured,
runners shoes and messages 
hang by Boylston Street.
We are broken yet strong,
hurt but not defeated. 
I hold my son,
I whisper words about goodness,
dark moments that inspire light.
I hold him closer and give him wings of hope
and love,
wanting my words to shelter him from
the storm,
wanting them to warm his soul.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

In An Instant-My Heart Is In Boston


I have no answers.
I can't explain the
brutal,
incomprehensible,
deliberate,
cowardly
act.
Words that attempt to capture
an instant when blue skies,
became forever grey.
An iconic race swept away,
turned into blood stained streets.
In an instant,
innocence stolen,
innocence lost.
In an instant,
a perfect day unfolding
into a nightmare.
In an instant lives changed,
families shattered,
a heartbreak
 that scars
 our souls.
 A perfect spring day turned into
bloody chaos,
Humanity at it's worst,
humanity at it's best.
This is America,
we bleed red white and blue.
This is America,
Americans doing what we do best. 
strangers reaching to lend a helping hand,
opening their hearts.
I have no answers,
but rage and raw pain,
 speechless,
I hurt,
for the city I love.





Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those injured and those that passed away. Yesterday when I turned the news on my heart sank. I was horrified for everyone. I immediately thought of  my son and his girlfriend, they are both doctors living in Boston. The day before the race his girlfriend was down by the finish line and I did not know if she was there or working. I could not get a hold of my son and when his girlfriend text me back I was relieved that she was safe. An hour later I heard my son was okay.  My son was treating people at the hospital, he is an ER doctor. I never imaged that he will have to witness the horrors of terrorism. I was raised in Israel and immigrated when I was 13. In Israel this was a part of our reality but I never thought that my children would experience it as well. After 9/11 our life as Americans changed forever. I dedicate this poem to the people of Boston and their generous spirit. We thank the first responders, police officers and all the doctors and nurses saving lives.
Please meet us here, http://dversepoets.com/ where  we share our thoughts and our hearts.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Remember And Change




Dad,
I don't want to write about spring,
flowers blooming,
touching my skin,
making my spirits rejoice.
Dad,
I don't wish to write about egrets 
flying into my yard,
celebrating glorious blue skies.
Dad,
I want to write about hunger and pain,
about a dark time,
when the sun did not shine for you 
and for others.
A time when your belly was empty
and your eyes witnessed 
horrors that remained with you
till the day you died.
I don't want to be gentle or soft,
I want to awaken souls.
I want the world to remember,
humanity at it's worst.
I want them to know
 that you did not
let it define you.
You were a survivor,
a champion ,
that fought for other people's rights .
Your heart open and your mind
filled with dreams.
You wrote beautiful words,
soaring above the pain and horror.
Dad,
I want them to remember ,
the people that perished,
the people that did not
get to go home and build
a new life,
I want the world to remember. 





Holocaust Memorial  Day was this week. I wrote a poem called, "Numbers". It was dedicated for all those that perished and the survivors. I know it's not a popular subject with some but so important to remember. 
There are crimes against humanity happening at different parts of the world even though we have come a long way, or have we? I recommend this article by my friend Belinda Munoz http://thehalfwaypoint.net/2013/03/a-place-powered-by-love/ . Compassion for others and their struggles is essential . We are all connected. Please join us here, http://dversepoets.com/ where we share our thoughts and our hearts. 
 

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Numbers



Numbers tattooed
on my soul.
Lives snuffed out,
erased,
roots of humanity pulled out
like weeds,
so they would not grow,
or flourish,
so they would not survive.
Numbers tattooed,
like branded animals,
identities robbed,
discarded,
destroyed.
Voices silenced,
voices of philosophers,  
poets,
bakers,
doctors,
mothers,
fathers,
children.
The old woman sits with me,
she remembers and weeps.
she remembers walking into
an empty house for refuge,
  a photograph 
of a rabbi on the wall,
his blue eyes haunt her in her dreams. 
She remembers hunger,
cold,
despair.
Her grandparents murdered,
her uncle vanished,
her aunt dismembered.
She is a part of me,
a piece of my legacy.
Her eyes the same color as my 
beloved father's eyes.
 They held hands at the gates of hell
and survived.
I write down the stories
seared with pain
 of portraits of life
ripped apart,
families lost ,
unspeakable horrors.
I write stories,
I witness,
as tears fall down,
we remember. 




Today is  Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) 2013 begins in the evening of
Sunday, April 7
and ends in the evening of
Monday, April 8.
This poem is for all the millions of lives lost and about my aunt sharing her stories with me. 
My dad and my aunt were small children during the holocaust. They witnessed things that were horrid. 
We must tell these stories and remember. 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Riding The T



I will take a chance on you,
I will take a chance on humanity.
I hear you ask for money on the T,
your voice travels like an echo.
You plead for money to get your 
state card,
so you can be placed in housing.
Your deadline 2:30.
People hide away their smirks
and ignore you,
non believers thinking they are scammed.
In the belly of the T,
I believe.
I reach for my purse,
I want to pull money out.
Then I hear you saying you have
to get your son from foster care,
doubt shadows my goodwill.
 Someone says,
that you go up and down off the 
trains, seeking the compassion of
strangers.
 I notice your fancy sneakers,
I hear the man behind
tell your story.
I'm not judging,
I just became a non believer,
as I watch you climb on another train.
I became a non believer,
and that makes me sad,
for both of us.


Meet us here http://dversepoets.com/ where we share our thoughts and our hearts.