Pillar of Salt I saw an ex the other day, she was the one who left Years since she went away, tears have long been wept We were going our separate ways, our eyes rose and met Something there bade me stay, I slowed to pause and ….yet I continued with my steady pace, … Read More
Liza Minnelli and Lena Horne with Liz Smith in 1983. (Nancy Kaye/AP) Liz Smith – Queen of Gossip “She is such a gossip!” Would seem to be a smear But rather than just stop it She made it her career Gossip’s a word For an era that’s gone Take what you’ve heard innuendo it … Read More
Photo: AFP Two Dozen African Girls Two dozen African girls Found floating in the sea We live in what kind of world That this is on page three? If this happened on the Hudson Or on Long Island Sound No story line above them Cameras all around We hear so much that distance Doesn’t matter … Read More
On This Day – September 15 Cutters killed in Kansas, Capote writes in a style never seen before If he wrote today he’d use emojis To say “Hey everyone! Lock your doors!” It is a day that ended discrimination And Gypsies wept to hear the news From Heinrich Himmler (he got an ovation) “They are … Read More
The Life of a Leaf I don’t know why I stopped to stare freezing dusk in November wide white birch nearly bare a lone leaf above untethered The air lilted it to the ground It landed where I would step I lost my will for homeward bound And stayed to pay final respects … Read More
A Hillside Bare New England November, no longer prey Tourists surrendered overrun by the gray The leaves were lovely and lifted the air But there’s something of comfort in a hillside bare The river’s less wild, an easier ambience Its job for awhile was posing for transients Now it just carries water, no putting on … Read More
30 Days!! By eleven November, deliver a record The Beatles’ contract tightly drawn Two albums a year In mid-October they came together They were fab but..come on! No pressure here Thirty days, sixteen songs An album plus a forty-five Plus a Christmas tune for fans Great Britain Thirty days the race was on To … Read More
Tzipora Jochsberger, Founder of Jewish Arts School 1920-2017 Before action there are words Before words there is thought It won’t happen without a verb And just thinking leads to naught Words can be the end itself And phrases can be passive But she heard a voice deeply felt And it saved her from the … Read More