The Deronda Review    a magazine of poetry and thought     Vol. VIII No. 2 2020

In this issueI

 

I.     To Make the Earth My Home

Roberta Chester, Wally Swist, Susan Oleferuk, Constance Rowell Mastores, Mindy Aber Barad Golembo, Reuven Goldfarb, Fred Jeremy Seligson, Rod Kleber, Art Greve, Rick Smith, Shoshanah Weiss

II.   Life's Housing

Lois Greene Stone, Ronny Someck, David Olsen, Bryan Damien Nichols, Natalie Lobe, Joseph Brush, Frank DeCanio, Yakov Azriel, Ruth Shmueli, Judy Koren, Amichai Chasson, Hava Pinhas-Cohen, Tirtsa Posklinsky-Shehory, Florence Weinberger, Tony Reevy, Philip Kobylarz, Sabina Messeg, Sarita Perel, Araleh Admanit, Cynthia Weber Nankee, Rumi Morkin, Susan Oleferuk, Ruth Gilead, Efrat Bigman, Zev Davis, Brenda Appelbaum-Golani, James B. Nicola, Roberta Chester, Sara deBeer, Esther Cameron, Harvey Steinberg

III.  On Uncertain Grounds

David K. Weiser, Reizel Polak, Michael E. Stone, Esther Cameron, Henry Summerfield, James B. Nicola, Daniela Barth, Araleh Admanit, Hayim Abramson, Batsheva Wiesner, Mindy Aber Barad Golembo, Yakov Azriel, Ruth Fogelman

IV.  House Made of Paper

Irene Mitchell, Shefi Rosenzweig, Amichai Chasson, Admiel Kosman, Florence Weinberger, Wally Swist, Yudit Shahar

V.   Quick Time

Vincent J. Tomeo, Kate Marshall Flaherty, Constance Rowell Mastores, Joseph D. Milosch, Adam Fisher, Marianne Lyon, Kelley Jean White, Yocheved Miriam Zemel, Art Greve, Susan Oleferuk, Florence Weinberger, Judy, Belsky, Imri Perel

VI.  Currents

Susan Olefruk, Art Greve, Hamutal Bar-Yosef, Philip Kobylarz, Michel Krug, Eka Meishar

VII.   Searching for a Space

Roger Singer, Lois Michal Unger, Yakov Azriel, Wendy Dickstein, Shira Twersky-Cassel, Mindy Aber Barad Golembo, Simcha Angel

                                

Zev Labinger, Jerusalem Swifts, acrylic on paper, 70x100 cm

 

TABERNACLE-BIRD

 

Tabernacle-bird, connect earth and sky

mantle tossed by the wind, your tides moon-raiment

 

traversing colors we have yet to learn

                          creatures locked in lines of firmament.

 

On autumn nights, pine cones speak to Jerusalem stone

rendering the tremor of creation to heated rooms

where men and women lie hidden in their beds.

 

In the morning, each pine cone

sculpts your form.

 

                                       —Shira Twersky-Cassel

                                         5700-5780/1940-2020

 

 

The Deronda Review mourns the passing of long-time contributors Shira Twersky-Cassel and Zev Davis.  “Retrospect“ pages for each of these fine poets are posted here and here.

This issue contains a number of poems translated from Hebrew.  See originals here. 

 

 

 

 

 

THE DERONDA REVIEW:

Editor: Esther Cameron., derondareview@gmail.com. Co-editor: Mindy Aber Barad, POB 6709, Efrat.

 

CONTRIBUTORS' EXCHANGE

Since its inception as The Neovictorian/Cochlea in 1996, The Deronda Review has included a Contributors' Exchange of addresses (surface, email, URL) and available books. Contributors' Exchange is now a separate .html file, and includes contributors from vol. 5 no. 1 on.

 

Reconstruction

“Small children are exempt from learning (to tear their shirts upon seeing Jerusalem).  There is no need to teach them this custom.“  (Yalkut Yosef, Remembering Jerusalem)

 

Piles of rocks, large and small, remains         

of something.  Small hands clear away

the broken pieces.  Sort them, play

what's bigger, smaller, each one piles gains

breadth and wisdom, a space to reveal

 

carefully compile, they feel

them, dust the sand, set them up

from memories of picture books, outcroppings,

what it was from inside out, steal

future plans, half hidden, build

 

what they remember, the sacred space defiled,

still they sing, and gather stones

from inside out, they start, all along . . .

who cares, whose watching.  Beguiled,

more room, count the precious pieces

 

how the walls encircle, creases

carefully enclose this sanctuary, rests,

they stand back, make a wish, behest

the structure they composed might release

sparks, fireworks in the air, effuse.

 

Piles of rocks, large and small, remains

of something. Small hands clear away

the broken pieces. Sort them, play

what's bigger, smaller, each one piles gains

breadth and wisdom, a space to reveal

 

carefully compile, they feel

them, dust the sand. set them up

from memories of picture books: outcroppings,

what it was from inside out: steal

future plans: half hidden: build 

                                           — Zev Davis (1943-2019)

 

 

 

Zev Labinger, Swiftscape 2, watercolor on Arches paper, 50 x 70 cm