Tag Archives: poetry

Part 297: →Husband Journey: Don’t Know Why

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© Susan Kalish I walked in the first heat of Spring on an April Sunday afternoon, in circles, knowing where I was going, but not, fearing I would trip and fall on small rocks, trekking up and down grade. “Find me, steer me,” I said, knowing that when alive he had GPS in his head as he was proud of saying. My inner compass was tattered and muddled by emotion: make a right, no, make a left, go up there on that rise. Lost. I hadn’t come here before this, I couldn’t go before, easy as that. I don’t know … Continue reading →

273→Husband Journey: A Revisit to “Birthing at Bocuse”

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March 2022 Introduction to an edited, earlier post. This is the cover to a tin of biscuits, purchased at Paul Bocuse’s restaurant in Lyon, à l’Auberge du Pont de Collonges Paul Bocuse. during one of two visits made in the 1980s. In our current attempt to sort through Robert’s never ending collections stashed in the basement, I almost tossed this: I was in a passionate mood to divest, of exorcism of too many possessions, and then I thought, “wait a minute!” Everything I come across is an important, muse-like stimulation, a much needed and coveted reminder of where I have been, … Continue reading →

Poetry: Needles (a re-post with historical background)

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Thinking of the Ukraine My grandma Sophie was born in the town of Kishinev, at that time, within Kiev, Russia, in 1895. In those days the borders changed every other week, so you could say she was born in Romania, the week that Kishinev was in Romania. This poem is dedicated to her. She was not educated: the Tsar forbade girls from getting an education, probably because they were indentured to sew for the royals. In later years I met someone whose grandmother also sewed for the Tsar, and it dawned on me that little girls had to work at … Continue reading →

A Digital Movie From 2002

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JHS class of 1928   My father attended the Germain School of Photography on the G.I. Bill after WW II; there he learned all kinds of photography skills: the history, the how-to’s, darkroom skills and camera repair. He worked, doing camera repair, in my parent’s bedroom after his regular job as a shipping clerk. He had an ad in Popular Photography for his little business, Precision Camera Repair. The cameras would come in limping and he would fix them. My job was to take them to the post office on East 14th Street (Manhattan) to be shipped back. This is … Continue reading →

188. Mother-Daughter Journey: Cynicism

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    C Y N I C I S M   I’m not sure what I want to say; I’ve been down this path before and Wolf was called so many times that I, Red Riding Hood, had so many bites taken out of my heart, rendering it useless but still pounding for breath: I cower. The fear, the stress, the listening to the words of those who are there watching over her— The clergy: Oh, I had such a wonderful time with your mother! She looked so nice, clean, was so engaged, we sang old Yiddish songs! The Hospice … Continue reading →

187. Mother Daughter Journey: I’m Not Ready To Die

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There you have it, loud and clear. She said it to the aide. She said it to the visiting Hospice nurse. She said it. I will fight death. And then she asked the aide to call her sister, Annette. What do you say when an elderly person in the throes of transition asks to speak to her sister who has been gone since 2007? “I can’t call her now, she went out.” And that quells the request for a while. For a while. Until the spirits of the past return carrying white clouds of memories. Of how her sister took … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: The Butterfly Project: Transformation: #4

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  When you least expect it. The day began with mother-issues (the aide didn’t show). It took a few hours for things to resolve … Anxiety over having to get into Manhattan for a medical appointment in a predicted rain storm. The rain never came … I let Hèrmes, our “community kitty,” in for breakfast, and in passing the butterfly house, I was surprised, if not gifted with the fourth butterfly. We NEVER expected any more emerging beauties at this time of year, we anticipated having to wait until next Spring. Nature knows. Somehow. In this narrow window of opportunity … Continue reading →