Long Shawl Poems

World War II Poems and Holocaust Poems V - Ber Horvitz, Yitzkhak Viner, Franta Bass

Der Himmel
"The Heavens"
by Ber Horvitz
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

These skies
are leaden, heavy, gray...
I long for a pair
of deep blue eyes....

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HOW I WOULD DESCRIBE MYSELF

People often say to me 
“What can you tell me about yourself” 
guess it’s my duty to explain to them 
and so I look them in the face and reply 

My...

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AN ILL-FATED ADDRESS

Being on holiday in Athens was truly the best 21st present 
my parents could have given me, stayed with my granddad,
felt great, I traveled on my own, no more an adolescent.
Sad that I...

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“Morning beautiful lady,” Joulupukki greeted her.
     “Beautiful?  Maybe a couple hundred years ago,” she replied as Joulupukki stood and kissed her on top of the head.
    ...

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This is the 2nd Half - sorry, this is the only way to get my long pieces posted - an full length audio version is also posted 


“Every single person, and the minister agreed…and just...

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The moon was neither full, nor was it not
She shone down radiant lighting the misty ole night
The waves lapped the shore
As a gentle breeze streaked my face
Alone by the sea, clouds, the moon and me

The...

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We'd laid old George to rest the week before,
at ninety-one he now rejoined his wife,
no heirs to his estate, so one thing more
to do, and that's clear where he'd spent his life.
Downstairs had been quite...

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With the opening of my fortress cell,
solemn-faced men come locust invading in
Their mouths smile not, and eyes neither grin
as ceremonial words pursed lips expel
A deer thought escapes ... my life nears its end!
And I feel...

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“Father, father where are you?”  She called to him and began to worry when he did not respond.  “Are you here father?”  She pushed aside the hides that separated the main room...

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I WILL NOT GO ASTRAY


I had fired off curses, you’d forever been strong.
Like a crapshoot endeavor of a serious wrong.
I know i’ll reap my sowing, so change of practice is best.
So I read biblical scripture,...

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Cry Wolf

Searchingly,
I peered into your sky painted eyes
without fully understanding what I might find,
but finding that which I might never fully understand.
And now,
My heart is adrift,
like flotsam ,hopelessly adrift.
And the wind that blows is cold,
and...

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Dear friiends those who first read my poem i left an important line out in the donkey story

The first dance after our wedding,
Was absolutely exciting, intoxicating,
My darling whispered in my ear,
My wedding present to you...

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You know sailor man,
You woke the spirit in me
I thought you were drunken and carefree
I could not hope or dream
The whore of the seas must take her place
I was of the lowest cast
The lowest morale
After...

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The moon has groaned home;

And soon the shadow’s drum,

Resonates the rhythmic silhouette,

To the ferocious pains of the spine;

Hear the heavy throbs of the drum,

The panting steps of the trumpet,

And the singing sage of the flute.

See...

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He plays throughout the house at night 
a braille touch for his lack of sight
and dreams of all the crippled things 
with broken legs and shattered wings.

The bandage on his wounded eyes 
will be there...

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Summer that year was beasty hot and dry. The sidewalks sizzled and roasted my bare feet, and the heat permeated the already parched ground leaving huge cracks and crevices. The grassy lawns—yellow and burnt—smelled like...

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My name is Devi, a foolish name really for it means Angel, and I certainly am not. The city of Phnom Penh had been our home, father was a professor at The Royal University. I...

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It was the darkest night I had been
through since I became one with the 
streets
And no matter what corner I 
squeezed into
every nerve in me got chilled
Maybe this was what they meant by 
the
apocalypse
Or maybe...

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Ebon was the night and the road was winding.
The thunder struck and the lightning blinding.
One moment of peace Ella was intent on finding.
A good safe haven she was trying to discover,
a terrible gruesome occurrence she...

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I know of a river of more than average 
Sorts...
Meandering, when not dallying to maunder,
Between many differing contours 
And unruly contorts;
Where a privileged youth once
Happily sought -
Pursuing about his passions
In the traditional methods 
By which...

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living with a ghost is easy
sometimes scary
       a bit hard on the nerves
               at times...

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I wish I could be clearer too
But when a mirror comes to view
I find reflections blur the tons
Of promises I've yet to keep.
The virtues to which I aspire
Just kindling in God's cleansing fire
A testament to...

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Solitary rituals of mourning the write way, right?

Papa... bless his (your) heart and soul,
impossible mission your second born
sole male heir cingularly communicates,
viz his avocational crafted poem, since
written words, mine metier
write most pained words

with great difficulty,...

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1. Ripples in warm sunbeams dwell.
From a sandy cocoon I wake and stir.
A floater in the blue does knell,
A dot, a stain, a blackened blur.
Am I the only one who sees?
No, the beach is afoot...

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  Dear grandma, 
       you were my litchi  s u n r i s e, 
  encasing stars in honeydew of  h e a l...

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