Peace Now, More Than Ever
Squandering time in cerebral circles
debating the subtleties that mystify
Like Talmudic scholars, with flowing beards
and forelocks, they pour our laws and
loopholes to justify their actions and far worse -
their inaction
They are charged with ending the violence
to find a way to restructure our world for non-violence
to end the quaking, shaking and fearsome changes
each new day delivers
to fully embrace beliefs that once drove our ancestors
to seek refuge and individual freedoms
Between scholars who whisper their questions so softly
only God hears their pleas, and vigilant soldiers
following orders to burn, maim, assault and erase
any semblance of those who fight back
We need peace in remote villages
in our cities, cooler heads must prevail
New lessons must be learned and passed on
what we value now must change
If we are to pass on this planet to
our children's children with confidence
of its survival,
education, faith and a world-wide commitment
to non-violence must begin today.
Finding My Dad...Again
For a long time, the only images I carried of my dad were from his last weeks, days, hours, minutes,
our hands clasped
three, two, one...I love you Daddy
He could not have weighed more than one hundred pounds
jaundiced, chemo-ravaged, wounded
I begged God to free him from this prison of
relentless suffering
Decades later, now an adult with my own family
and a son who carries dad's name
I came across boxes filled with
pictures, telegrams, letters, even the messages on
floral delivery cards
It was all there, daring me to peek, scavenge,
even revel, in the contents of the treasure trove
buried within
There was my dad wearing a "kiss the cook" apron
folding Mom's homemade strawberry jam into each
imperfect omelette
dusting them with confectionery sugar
while mugging for Mom's brownie camera
Forever capturing those one-in-a-million
milestone moments
There was my dad
shepherding our young family around Disneyland
kneeling beside a creek bed where we learned to
pan for gold
There was my Dad
lacing our skis at a winter resort
three kids under seven
thirty minutes later, the bunny slopes were but
a frost-bitten memory
There was my Dad
freeing our soggy feet while Mom, God bless her,
passed hot chocolate and thermal socks
In a million milestone moments
in boxes that had seen better days
I found my Dad...again
© Jill Sharon Kimmelman
Jill Sharon Kimmelman is a two-time Pushcart Prize-nominee in Poetry, 2017 & 2021, and "Best of the Net" 2018.
Her international publishing credits include Vita Brevis Press, Spillwords Press, Fine Lines, Better Than Starbucks Poetry & Fiction Journal, Poetic Musings, The Poet Magazine, ILA Magazine, Prolific Pulse Press, World Inkers Network, Garden of Neuro, Writing In A Woman's Voice, PLCS, Eric Publications, Writing On The Wall Global Magazine and Prolific Pulse Press, LLC.
Jill's first book, "You Are The Poem", was released in November 2021. The ebook and iBook version was released in April 2022. Jill's poetry has appeared in more than 50 international literary publications.
Her second book is planned for 2025.
She lives in Delaware, USA with her husband, Tim Little. Jill is a proud mother of her son, Jordan Lawrence Halpern.
The image above, is a disco-style frame taken in 1978, from Jill's debut book "You Are The Poem", released in paperback in 2021. Jill mentions the occasion was her beloved grandmother's surprise 60th birthday celebration.
Jill has given ILA Magazine permission to feature with her poems.
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