Yahrtzeit For Ma (Edith Zeibert Freedman)
Yahrtzeit for Ma (Edith Zeibert Freedman)
Ma,
In all the years of my poems
So little for you,
Who cared for and loved us all
Who kept us alive
When Dad was sick.
Ma,
You were the family for us all,
You saved Dad, and Jakie and Joycie and me,
You were the best,
Your beautiful smile
Your inner peace and calm
Your goodness and love
Your shticken and white lies that never hurt
And just kind kind Kindness
Ma who loved your home so much
Whenever we needed you- always there.
Ma.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
I Had Parents-They Were Jews
I HAD PARENTS /THEY WERE JEWS
I had parents-
They were Jews-
I am a Jew
But what of their childrens’ children
And their children, if they have them?
What of this one Freedman- Zeibert family?
What of us, the only family I come from?
What of us?
Where are the Jews?
Will there be any
In a generation or two?
What of all those generations who struggled and sacrificed and stayed alive before us as Jews?
What of them?
What of me?
What of us?
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Oh Dad
OH DAD POEM WRITTEN ON THE TWENTY- SECOND YAHRTZEIT OF MY FATHER 11 Sivan 5769
Oh Dad we are all together again
Ma is here and Jakie and Joycie
And Bubbe and Zayde Freedman
And Bubbe and Zayde Zeibert
And Abie and Nate and Loukee and Lakie
And Uncle Jack and Reddy and Davy and Molly and Larry
We are all together again
And we are sitting in the yard on First Street
Or maybe in the garden in the back on Centerview Drive
We are all alive
And most of us are restless
And a few deeply depressed
And the old people ache and are mostly silent
And the children are few
And one of them wants to hide
And get away from it all.
And with all of us alive
It’s no longer necessary to regret or grieve
Over anyone’s absence
Or mourn that you or Ma or Jakie is no longer here.
We are all as we were then
We are alive
And no one is ever going to die
And somehow in some magical way
I cannot understand
But God who made all certainly can
You- all these people I love so much
Are having in your lives whatever kindness or goodness or love or achievement or blessing,
You didn’t have then
Which will make you happy now.
We are all there
All of us
Alive
Back again
And no one has died and no one will ever die
And we are happier than we ever were then
And all of you will be happy forever.
Isn’t it wonderful Dad
Not a single one of has a single regret
It’s just so much better than it ever was
And you Dad are happy and have for once in your life
A peace of mind
You need not so desperately cry or pray for.
Dad oh Dad Ma oh Ma Jakie oh Jakie.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
On The Day Of My Mother's Yahrtzeit
ON THE DAY OF MY MOTHER’S YAHRTZEIT
On the Day of my Mother’s Yahrtzeit
I look up at God’s sky
It is a blue sky and it has great beauty in it:
It seems to say;
‘There is a higher better place we can go
Beyond this Earth beyond this Life-
If there is Reward for Goodness and Kindness and Caring for others with Love,
Ma is there.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Have Had Enough Of The Words And The Poems
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THE WORDS AND THE POEMS
I have had enough of the words and the poems
And the endless sayings which lead only to more words and words
I want to go alone
To the far far distance
Where G-d is home
And there where I am real
Be
What I always dreamed
The loving son of Reuben Kelly and Edith Freedman
A little child
Whose father did not stop screaming in pain
And whose mother simply loved in kindness
No matter whatever was said or done
Because I miss them so still
In my old age
My parents my mother and my father Mom and Dad
They were the only best I ever had
God bless them wherever they are
And will I ever be with them again?
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Only The Poems Keep Me Alive
ONLY THE POEMS KEEP ME ALIVE
Only the Poems keep me alive
Without them
I would be silent.
I need the Poems
But do I do the Poetry justice?
The world has so much Beauty in it,
And I register my small complaints.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Only Dreams I Have In Writing Now Are Poems
THE ONLY DREAMS I HAVE IN WRITING NOW ARE POEMS
The only dreams I have in writing now are poems
Poems and more poems-
I write them in the morning and in the evening
At all times of day
Whenever I can make them come to me
They calm me and make me rest
They bring a sense that I am still alive
They justify me an amuse me
They give me hope
The only dreams I have now are poems
And poems keep me alive
As long as they can.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
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
Vote! | Copy!
I Write My Poems/They Keep Me Alive In Writing Now
I write my poems
They keep me alive in writing now
I can't write as I once did
I have the poems
These I can still do
I have to think what will be
When I lose them
The poems that keep me alive now
And one day will stop also.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Wrote A Poem I Loved
I WROTE A POEM I LOVED
I wrote a poem I loved
But I could not rest content with it.
I had to write another poem,
And another poem.
And in the writing of other poems,
Some of which I also loved.
I lost the poem I loved.
Essentially I am a writer of poems
And not their possessor.
I possess many poems of others,
But somehow mine, I cannot.
However I love them
Perhaps I really believe
None of them good enough
To be worthy of such love.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Escape To 'The End Of The Universe
I ESCAPE TO ‘THE END OF THE UNIVERSE’
I escape to 'The End of the Universe’
‘What will be with us all? ’ I ask again and again.
But I do not answer what will be with my own children
And family in the years ahead.
It is easier to think of billions of years ahead
When I know it is not for me to do anything about it.
But in the real life
The few years left to me now
What will, what can I do
But pray for God’s Help
To keep my own family alive?
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Grief Is Less With The Years The Tenth Yahrtzeit Of The Holy Teacher
GRIEF IS LESS WITH THE YEARS
AT THE TENTH YAHRTZEIT OF THE HOLY TEACHER
Grief is less with the years-
A friend is not a parent-
Time makes life different
It is not what it was then.
My good friend my holy teacher
May G-d enjoy your joyful presence
As so I so much did when you were here.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Played The Game Of Words For Years
I PLAYED THE GAME OF WORDS FOR YEARS
I played the game of words for years-
It did not bring me to Fame and Fortune-
I tried and tried,
But no one really cared for what I did.
Now I am quite old,
It appears I will never get to where I wanted to go,
I have sadness and regret for this,
But I doubt I can change it.
Life is not necessarily what we dream it will be
We strive,
But God may give us something different from what we hoped.
I am still alive
I am writing this now
I have had many years to write and try
I thank God for that.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Am In Old Age Too Happy To Be Sane
I am in old age too happy to be sane
I just love my life so much –
I don’t know why and yet I do-
I have managed to remain alive
For all these years
And still pretty healthy
And a family I love
Thank God –
And I live in Israel
And I am an American too
What a blessing
So many blessings-
How can I not be happy
And thankful to God for them?
I won’t speak of all the hard things and losses through the years
They will always be there-
But on the whole
Thinking about it all
I want to sing and dance and laugh and thank G-d
And bless all the family and friends
That have been so good to me in so many ways
Thank you all.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Oh The Poems And More Poems
OH THE POEMS AND THE MORE POEMS
Oh the poems and the more poems
The wonderful poems I am writing all the time
God has given me this gift
And when I wait in the right way
And when I listen to myself properly
The poems come in ways I could never have thought of or imagined before
They come as mysteries as gifts as surprises
As wonderful to me as perhaps to you their possible readers
Oh the poems and the more poems
The wonderful poems God has given me
And the light of this day and so many other days, also.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
All I Can Do Now Is Write Another Poem
All I can do now is write another poem-
The poems are small,
And do not require the long hours and long years
Of the books-
Like the world as a whole
I seem to have a shorter attention span
And less patience-
A poem can be written and given a name
In minutes not years-
Though some would say a great poem
Takes the travail of years of waiting
And years of work-
But I did not say
‘All I can do now is write another great poem'
Perhaps I have in all the years of the nights never written one-
I can write the poems I write
My kinds of poems
In a fairly short time-
All I can do now
Is write another of my kind of poems-
Whether they be worth anything,
Or not.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Suddenly Felt a Great Happiness
I suddenly felt a great happiness-
The dream of so many years has come true
The one thing I wanted more than anything in the world
Has been given to me
A grandchild -
God has been so good to me
Why?
Who am I to deserve such blessing?
Still alive after all these years,
And with a daughter
Who now has a family of her own-
God Bless God, parents and children everywhere,
Israel.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Have Been Very Sick
I HAVE BEEN VERY SICK
I have been very sick
I might have died-
I thank God
I am still alive-
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Poems Return
THE POEMS RETURN
The poems return
And with them
I to myself-
Life begins again
I begin to believe
There is hope-
Somehow in some way
Something good will happen-
The poems return
I return
Thank God
I am alive again.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Poems Are The Answer
The poems are the answer-
After all the years
The poems are the answer-
They enable me to say
What I need and want-
They free me to be-
They give me so much happiness-
After all these years
The poems are the answer
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Have Written Too Many Imperfect Poems
I HAVE WRITTEN TOO MANY IMPERFECT POEMS
I have written too many imperfect poems
This is another one.
Years have gone by,
Where are the perfect poems?
A handful of true poems
And the poet does not die.
Where are mine?
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!