gershon hepner Poems

Don’t play the cello if you want
to be a magnet for the chicks,
a guy who on guitar strings picks
is thought be far more gallant.
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Some chicken, Churchill said, some neck.
It seemed that Britain’s had been wrung,
and after death no chickens peck,
but Britain did, though Hitler flung
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“Does it have a meaning? ”
they ask. He answers them with gall.
“I hope it doesn’t, but it will occur again,
and you will see once more what happened then,
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Mark my words, in case you’re in the dark
about a Jewish artist, known as Marc.
Originally the name was Moishe, but
the change would open doors once shut
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You can’t do kabbalah until
you do your Bible and the Talmud first,
but if of it you get your fill
before you are completely versed
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Nietzsche said that life is not an endpoint
but a bridge.
Narrow bridge, said Nahman, mind-bend point.
I say ridge
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Money must be spread like dung
as if it really mattered,
but whether you are old or young
make sure your seed is scattered.
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Fondly overcome by female charm
to heaven I may be translated.
Such translation does less harm
than causing sense to be castrated,
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Promise is guilt, capacity
for letting people down;
without more than audacity
you’re just a proper noun.
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Wrinkles, crows’ feet, sagging of a breast,
embarrassing when they’re subjected to inspection,
can be, exposed and openly confessed,
both paradigms and poetry of imperfection.
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