EVENING BREEZES
AARON SAFRONOFF
..... ..... .....JAN 2014
The rain fell hard on the roof of the car, heavy but hollow as I was driven to the funeral. I sat in back, alone. My friends were there but not one of us spoke. I was alone in my grief; selfishly refusing the possibility that anyone understood, or that anyone cared or could care. Somehow the rain helped, made it easier not to cry.
It was cold when we arrived; the kind of cold that begins in your bones. I stepped out of the car and saw a clock with no numbers over the entrance. Was that a joke? I flashed angry, but it was only a spark and it went out as quickly as it started. There was no strength in me to react more.
A gentleman in black hurried over to me. After a few seconds and an incomprehensible greeting, the man offered me his umbrella. I didn’t think it was much of an offer considering that the stranger had been paid to usher me inside, and his insistence felt non-negotiable. So, he walked with ...
The purpose of poetry is to illustrate the splendor and agony of nature and the human condition in such a way as to elicit a visceral response. Usually. These are not those poems. This new collection by a non-poet who simply loves to experiment with poetic forms wanders through myriad themes and styles. Some poems were created as challenges, some are amusing, some are just, well … beyond words. It’s all in good fun, and you may even find some poems in here that speak to you.
Don't Lose Heart is the translation of Kujikenaide, a collection of 42 poems authored by a 100-year-old Japanese woman named Toyo Shibata. Don't Lose Heart includes each original Japanese poem and a side-by-side English translation. Written in what reviewers have termed a down-to-earth style with "sprightly" words, her poems have proven encouraging to thousands of readers. Her poems have also inspired the victims of the Great Japan Disaster of 2011, for whom she has become a symbol of encouragement and faith to that tragic event. In a poem dedicated to the victims she writes, "I beg of you, please do not allow your soul to also be swept away." Many of her poems have that tone of encouragement, with regards to love, dreams, future and self-confidence. S&Y Associates, the publisher of this translation, has been deeply moved by the courage displayed by the victims of the Great Disaster, and so, seeing the inspiration given to the victims by Kujikenaide, S&Y Associates will donate the profits of Don't Lose Heart to the Japan Relief Fund, in hopes of providing a better ...
