Neither Positions Nor Possessions...

Tonight I watched a moving, memorable Holocaust documentary with Oprah Winfrey and Elie Wiesel, filmed at today's Auschwitz. (Please, after reading my post, scroll up again to line 1 and click on the hyperlinked phrase above!)

At one point, Elie Wiesel told Oprah, "What I realized here is that nothing mattered…positions or possessions, nothing." His eloquent words inspired this poem:

Sorry To Burst Your Bubble, but…

By S. L. Lipson 

                                

          P ossessions

          O r

          P ositions

                     P ersuasions                                      

                     O r

                     P ermissions

                                 P olitics

                                 O r

                                 P ontifications

                                          P op!

                                             F izzle!

                                                F ade!

                                                   F ly...

                                                  

                                      Only Love survives.

Special Poem for Holocaust Remembrance Day 2014

A sonnet dedicated to Irving Lipson and his family

Puddles of Wax

By Susan L. Lipson

A candle flickers in my heart for you;

I symbolize it with a wick just lit,

Commemorating millions also due

For honor as we rise from where we sit

To sing of lives snuffed out before their wicks

Had burned for all the years they should have glowed,

Before they were consumed in flames like sticks,

Or piled in pits and ditches by the road—

A road less traveled by the ones who’ve dug,

Unearthing truths embodied by their bones,

The ones who will not sweep under the rug

The evil echoing in ghostly moans.

The candle flames will end in puddles here,

While yours will burn and shine in every tear.

Digest This!

#NationalPoetryWritingMonth (#NaPoWriMo14)

April 23, 2014Shakespeare's Birthday!

My poem for Day 23 of National Poetry Writing Month simply had to use a literary conceit to honor the great poet! And here it is, full of words not usually considered poetic, to say the least, but in a sardonic, Shakespearian tone.

Digest This!

By S. L. Lipson

If social intolerance for minorities

could be modified by enzymes,

like lactose intolerance,

then the verbal diarrhea

spewed by bloated egos

would be mitigated,

and the acid of cramped minds

would not be regurgitated;

then all would feel settled,

and the growling and discomfort would cease.

In the absence of such enzymes, though,

we might try dietary restrictions:

limiting our slanted media consumption
as a first step.