we’re nothing but mammals
we walk, not crawl
through orange leaves
common in the fall
i’ve been in this house so long
i forget what it’s like out there –
hustle & bustle
breaking our backs
for snacks
& other goodies –
Continue readinghumanity
Book Review: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
I’m always reading heavy and serious books like Kafka, the classics, or dystopian science fiction. So I decided recently to read something a little more light-hearted for a change of pace.
The book I picked up was from Rachel’s shelf – The Golem and the Jinni, a 2013 debut novel from Helene Wecker. The novel still has some serious themes, but it wasn’t the type of angsty existentialism I usually dig into.
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Melting Glacier/Ego (a poem)
I got an ego the size of a glacier
but I hope it’s meltin’
like them ones in the Artic
I used to say I was sick
in the head
but that was self-contempt
I’ve since given up –
I’m just like everyone else
a homo sapien not fully evolved
plagued by panic, all that crap –
snap, crackle, pop! I’m locked
in the house, quiet as a mouse
thinking of myself too much
what about thinking of others?
oh brother, here I go again
beating myself up
give it up!
(Photo by Elisa Clairet on Unsplash)
Note: This poem was inspired by a prompt on dVerse to do a “self-portrait.” The title of the post was, “Come and take a selfie!” Here’s a link to the dVerse post where the prompt is!
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Warlike (a poem)
Look at our history, we’re a warlike species
we wish to beat + battle
but can we foster peace?
Piece by piece, we lunge toward an unknown future,
fighting animal instincts –
military tanks rumble toward me,
I step barefoot, bloody over broken glass
armed with a lotus flower
to combat their firepower.
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Soldiering On (a poem)
We can soldier through these dark hours if we hold on to faith + meaning –
the government tweeted antisemitism last night, the paranoia set in
we covered the webcam, spoke in whispers
debated if it was intentional
I thought of Viktor Frankl + man’s search for meaning –
humans can exact great suffering on each other,
but they can never take our souls.
(Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash)
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For the Homeless & Damnificados (a poem)
We are damnifacados: homeless, junkies,
people deem us less than human.
When you pass us on a hectic street, we’re resting with
backs to the wall asking for mercy, spare change –
you look away from our weathered faces,
we feel disgrace, in our soiled clothes, our tired eyes.
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Beware of the Apartment People (a poem)
The people in this apartment complex are so nice!
They smile, ask how I’m doing
I can tell they mean it by their bright eyes,
gentle body language, the way they speak of
this complex as a community.
But why does it seem so strange?
Behind these pearly-white smiles,
are they planning my demise?
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Sainthood (a poem)
What happened to the woman who
was nearly stoned to death?
Jesus said to not sin again,
but if she’s like me, she was
back in sweaty sheets later that day,
engaged in sinful acts – it’s a fact that
we’re far from saints + sainthood is
a hatred of humanity
but Jesus was half-God,
so it’s not so odd to believe
He died for me + whether I sin today
or tomorrow doesn’t matter much
because grace is free
(Photo by Laura Allen on Unsplash)
