The Jew
Moses, from whose loins I sprung,
Lit by a lamp in his blood
Ten immutable rules, a moon
For mutable lampless men.
The blonde, the bronze, the ruddy,
With the same heaving blood,
Keep tide to the moon of Moses.
Then why do they sneer at me?
Credits
Isaac Rosenberg, “The Jew,” from The Selected Poems of Isaac Rosenberg, ed. Jean Moorcroft Wilson (London: Cecil Woolf, 2003), p. 56.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.
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In the Subway I
A wall.
A blunt wall of human backs, arms, legs.
A gray bulwark with white round stains.
A defeated army in a cave, before maneuvers,
Waiting for doors to open.
Not cages unlatched, in uproar.
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Can be more beautiful?
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You strangers with the broad, thick-veined hands,
Crooked legs and faces hard as leather,
Smelling of sea and tar
And of the rust of thick anchor chains;
Oh, you, strangers to all nations and tongues…
Still Life
Bread and cheese and honey on a simple table.
The tea beckons golden
In two thin glasses.
Green, cool and fresh,
The water jug, veiled in dew.
On the edge a woman’s handkerchief.
Next to it, a…
Piyyut in Honor of R. Faradji Chaouat
O our God! O our God!May Rabbi Frājī be with us.Come, people, and hear what happened to Rabbi Frājī, how he passed on.He sent after the gozbar and said to him “Come before us.”When the gozbar cam…
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Cover of Else Lasker-Schüler, Hebraische Balladen. Most of the poems in this volume have biblical themes. The drawing on the cover is by Lasker-Schüler, who often illustrated her published poetry. It…