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No Poem This Morning?

NO POEM THIS MORNING?

No poem this morning?
Despair
And the effort at poetry
As the way of contending with it-
These lines
Like so many lines
Written for myself
With the hope that they might also be of help
to someone else.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Poem Is Restless In Me

THE POEM IS RESTLESS IN ME

The poem is restless in me-
It waits to be heard-
Now that it comes
It does not feel especially happy about itself.
It knows it is not real-
It is not much-
Just because it is called a poem by me
Does not make it a poem -
The mind has its own place-
My mind also -
I am always thinking poems are with me,
And poems waiting to come-
But who am I and what do I know?
These lines are written in the still of the morning
When the light outside still brings hope
That a new day is possible.
But so many poems have been written in the early morning
And I am so old from hearing them said to me by myself-
And what does it all mean anyway in the end when God is the Only One?
And who am I to know what God is, or invoke the name of God
In such a small thing as my own poetry?

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Grey Grey Morning

GREY GREY MORNING

Grey grey morning
Purim again
Where to begin?
A poem is not just any words-
A poem needs a music of its own-
A beauty-
Lines that are memorable.
A poet cannot just be
What one happens to see and feel
At the moment
A poem must have lines which others will remember.
Grey grey morning
Purim again
Another poem about a poem
Is there one line here worth remembering?

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Poem I Am Writing Now

The poem I am writing now
does not know if it will be finished
it does not even know if it will be a poem -
it is slowly appearing line by line
and making its own meaning on the page-

Is it worth anything?
will anyone care?
I don't know -

The poem I am writing now
is just these lines
and these lines like all lines
are only small words
in a vast universe
that has long lived
and will probably longer live
without them.

Why then write these words now?

The poem I am writing now is saying,
'I am here now'.

But why should this mean anything to anyone else?

The poem I have written here
is not the poem I would have posted here
It is only the poem I am finishing now
a poem without great love or belief in itself.

The poem I am writing now
is written.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Have Written Too Many Poems Of Despair

I HAVE WRITTEN TOO MANY POEMS OF DESPAIR

I have written too many poems of despair-
Too much complaint-
Too much sorrow grief sadness difficulty pain-
I should have written more of hope of youth of love-
I should have sung of happiness
I should have been been a poet
Who helps others love life more

I can try now-

But can words of ‘will’ really be poetry?

It is when the lines come to the mind and heart
On their own
Naturally
That the poem begins to live.

Does this sound like a ‘happy poem’?
Or yet another lament for what I am
And have not been?

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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There Are Days No Poem Can Be Written

THERE ARE DAYS NO POEM CAN BE WRITTEN

There are days no poem can be written
Grief and worry frighten the poem away
Yet the poem lives hidden
For our darkest moments our loneliest fears
Too need their poetry.

Poetry is a way of saying all we need to say
It is our deepest feeling most deeply expressed
It is all we are
The whole of our being
In words.

When a poet dies
Words die
When I will die
All I am will no longer be able to write
One more poem.

How afraid I am in the night
And how dark in the early morning before I rise
But now that I am here
Writing this
A bit of hope begins in me
And I can dream that
When I walk out the door
a few minutes from now
A new day will begin.

How many days I have left
How many poems to write
I do not know.

It is not light yet
And the darkness is still here
But I will feel the morning again
This morning
Thank G-d
You have given me so many poems.
A few small words
help me believe
I truly am alive.
.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Poem Of All The Places I Have Never Been

THE POEM OF ALL THE PLACES I HAVE NEVER BEEN

The poem of all the places I have never been
The poem of all the dreams I have not seen
The poem of others poems written in lines I have never imagined
The poem of the infinite – what-is- not and ‘what- will- never- be
The poem of seas and suns and sounds and Shakespeare’s sonnets,
The poem of words and only words whose sounds do not mean what we feel
The poem of all I would not and cannot write
The poem that is not and never will be in me
The poem I do not write
The poem I am not
The poem lost
The poem which itself is not a poem
The poem of the last contradiction and the first
The poem beyond the poem hidden within the poem
The poem which will never be a poem
The poem which is not
The poem I cannot dream.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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All The Poems Remain Written Where They Once Never Were

ALL THE POEMS REMAIN WRITTEN WHERE THEY ONCE NEVER WERE

All the poems remain written where they once never were
The grass and the skies of Whitman form lines in the mind of Baudelaire
The trees and dark cities of the distance form single sounds in the heart of the poet who cares
Night is more than darkness and day more than an early setting out
Each thing influences the other and calls back its own origins and end
We are going somewhere we will never know whether we write eternal lines or not
Over everywhere can be heard in the morning light the selfsame sound that through the heart of Ruth burned the alien corn
Keats is not dead, and Borges is not dead and Kafka is not dead and Wordsworth and all those who wrote great lines are not dead
Poetry is the last first eternity of the living word
And those who can hear the sounds of others greater than themselves in their own lines know
We are all writing down this last poem for ourselves and no one else
Though as we go to pray each morning the minyan tells us secretly
All our prayers together are more than any single poem can be alone
In the grey long distance where no one hears any poem at all
God writes and rewrites for us all the book of the stars in which dread is no longer a name
And beauty bright bright beauty is heard and reechoed as more than we will ever be
God is the only Poetry in the End
God is the Only One who never will be dead..

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Can A Sick Man Write A Morning Poem?

CAN A SICK MAN WRITE A MORNING POEM?

Can a sick man write a morning poem?
Can a man short of breath write anything?
I try-
My own banal reflections on my own condition are the poem-
A small confession of where I am today –

I have the strength -
I have written these lines -
Perhaps the morning light today
Is real after all.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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This Poem

THIS POEM

This poem
This first poem
This last poem
This poem that invented Poetry
This one and only one poem
This fictional poem
This ideal poem
This perfect poem
This would – be holy poem
This unreal poem
This poem which is not a poem
This poem which is the essence of all poetry
This poem
And that poem
And my poem
And your poem
And all poems
Poem poem poem poem poem
This poem
Mine and yours
This one small poem of so so many
And not such a good poem at all.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Not Every Morning Is A Poem

NOT EVERY MORNING HAS A POEM

Not every morning has a poem
Not every morning has the light one needs
Not every morning is a new beginning
Not every morning is what morning should be.

Still this morning I will try
As I most often try
To feel from the first step outside
That morning is a new day.

God, how long has it been
With all these days and all this effort
And all these needings to begin again?

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Poet Without A Poem/ Empty and Desperate

A POET WITHOUT A POEM

A poet without a poem
Empty and desperate
Forces a few lines
As way of reviving himself.

The lines lead to other lines
A poem begins to come.

The poet hears his hope as he writes
And then when there is a poem
He just rests happily
Knowing he is alive again.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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If I Had A Poem Now

IF I HAD A POEM NOW

If I had a poem now
The light of the morning
Would be true light.

But the lines I have just written
Are not strong enough.

The light is still the light
And a new day
Is still a new day

The poem is perhaps
Somewhere else
Later.

So why do I write this,
And call it a poem now?

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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There Is A Poem For Me Somewhere This Morning

THERE IS A POEM FOR ME SOMEWHERE THIS MORNING

There is a poem for me somewhere this morning
I will find it somehow
Perhaps it is in the memory of my father
Whose Yahrtzeit is today
Twenty- two years.
Perhaps it is as it is often
In the morning light
When I first walk outside to Shul
Perhaps it is in the deep need for a poem
For my own justification
Perhaps it is in my daughter’s search
For poems of inspiration
Perhaps it is in many things mixed together
Most of which I have not yet
And may never bring to mind
There is a poem for me somewhere this morning
I am writing it now
It is not beautiful
And not the best
And maybe even not much of a poem
There is a poem for me somewhere this morning
And I am not alone.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Poem That Perhaps Never Should Have Been Written

THE POEM THAT PERHAPS NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN

Not the poem of yesterday
Nor the poem of tomorrow
But the poem of today-
What gives life meaning now.
Not the poem as it is read
But the poem as it is written.
Not the certain poem
But the poem that does not know
If it truly is a poem.
The poem that gives hope only when it is written-
The lesser poem-
The poem that perhaps never should have been written.
The poem I am writing now,
Perhaps for myself alone
The lesser poem
The poem that perhaps should never have been at all.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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There Is No Poem/Like The Poem Of The Morning

THERE IS NO POEM/ LIKE THE POEM OF THE MORNING

There is no poem
Like the poem of the morning-
The poem of beginning again-
The poem of light-
The poem of hope-
The poem of a new world.

Even when one is old,
The poem of the morning
Is a new poem.

And we need new poems.

We need mornings-
We need light-
We need hope-
The poem of a new day
Of beginning again
Even when one is old.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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For All The Poets

FOR ALL THE POETS

This is a poem for all the poets who have no name,
For all those who have written and failed,
And for those who have not written,
And failed.

This is a poem for all the poets who dreamed themselves poets,
And were never, and will be known as poets
To the world.

This a poem for all those
Who after years of effort
Still live in an oblivion
They will die in.

This is a poem for all those
Who whether they have poetry in them or not,
Will never be heard or read,
For what their hearts must tell
Someone else.

This is a poem for all the silent poets
Those who live in silence
And whose silence is eternal
For all those whose only poetry
is the poem they have lived within themselves.

This is a poem for all those who would- be poets
And a poem for those
Who despite their efforts
Did not make their poem known.

This is a poem which may be for you,
And I know is for me
A confession
To make us less alone.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Poem I Wrote In My Mind This Morning Walking Home

The poem I wrote in my mind this morning walking home
Is gone-

I will try to recall it -

It was not finished,
A few lines around an idea-

What was the idea?
I don't remember-

Slowly slowly in old age
The mind works less well

First it is trouble with names
Other peoples names-
And then what?

I recently cared for a man
Who often did not know his own name
And could not speak one sentence clearly-

The poem I lost this morning was not about ‘remembrance'
And its loss -

But on the way home I was happy when I suddenly remembered a name
I was looking for-

‘Perhaps it will not happen to me' I said
Or perhaps it will happen so far from now
I do not need to think about it'

One day all the poems will not be remembered
And these lines too will go to oblivion-

My poem this morning was not even writ in water-

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Only Poem Is The Poem/ At The Moment Of Its Writing

THE ONLY POEM IS THE POEM

The only poem is the poem
At the moment of its writing
The poem being lived now
The poem I am trying to make
The poem of these lines.

The only poem now is this one-
And this poem is so small and so self- reflexive
That it is not much of a poem at all.

The only poem is not much of a poem at all
This one
And me now? .

But what about everything else I have not done?

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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What Poem Will This Morning Bring?

WHAT POEM WILL THIS MORNING BRING?

What Poem will this morning bring?
What new hope?
Perhaps none at all.
Or perhaps a false hope.
Perhaps all the poems are false hopes
And I am only a fool
Parading my folly before the Many
Who ignore it in its insignificance anyway
Have I ever written a poem really?

Perhaps I am no poet
and just ‘Nothing’ in this forever
And perhaps this too
is a Poem
sort of.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Every Poem Is Another Effort At Poetry

EVERY POEM IS ANOTHER EFFORT AT POETRY

Every poem is another effort at Poetry
Will it belong or not?
And what is Poetry?
And who owns it
And who cares ultimately?

We are criers in the night
Dawn- breaking whisperers of Awe
We make of our little lives
A gantze gescheft.
No one is where we are
When we are alone,
And even the once beautiful stars
Have given way for us
To cold measurements of deeper darkness.

Let us say we know how to pray
And some of us do
Let us say that for some there is God waiting to answer
Let us listen.

The poems and Poetry and who and what we are
Go on in ways we do not know.

I write these lines as congregant
Whose love for Beauty
Has been gratified
Through the the singing in prayer
in the synagogue Yakar
Yerushalayim.

poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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