This was published in Motif #4 anthology – enjoy!
Tag: poetry
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“Mantua, 1606” – 2nd Place, Raynes Poetry Competition
- “Mantua, 1606” Second Place, Raynes Poetry Competition judged by Joan Larken. Published in Jewish Currents, Spring 2015.
“Mantua, 1606”
2nd Prize, 2014 Raynes Poetry Competition, Joan Larkin, Judge
Jewish Currents, April 2014His Grace, Duke Gonzaga, exempted
Salomoni Rossi Hebreo,respected court musician and composer,
from wearing the mandatory Jews’
Yellow Badge of Shame
Rossi always kept tucked
in his sleeve as he walked
from Mantua’s ghetto to the court
he fingered it like his viol,
polyphonic voices winding
in his head singing
the badge of shame was pride
no badge of shame was shame
no badge of shame was pride
the badge of shame was shame
as he walked
the no-man’s land between
the ghetto and the court
© 2013 Michael Jackman
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“Abandoned Barns”
Abandoned Barns
by Michael JackmanThis barn was newly raised, once. This patch
of ground was hallowed by its arching ribs,
aromas of the earth rose through the thatch
of sweet straw quilted over new-made cribs.
The hay-loft pulley, swaying in the sun,
was an eternal lamp, the double-doors,
an entrance to a tabernacle one
approached to worship during morning chores.
And now the roof is broken. Now the rain
pours through the holes and floods the hallowed ground.
Wind blows among wood skeletons, the stain
of rotting hay, its protest made, a sound
raised up to summon us to patch the roof.
Far from abandoned barns, we stand aloof.Thomas Merton Poetry of the Spiritual Contest (Runner up, 2001)
Thomas Merton Seasonal (2002)
