Return To Zion Poem by Linda Hepner

I want to first comment on the excellence of your rhyme schemes. Your rhymes not only perform as a sound element in the poem, but also add something to the semantic dimension as well. The rhyming of WHOLE and SOUL tells us what soul contributes to our human nature; rhyming ARK and DARK alerts us to the metaphysical dangers the ARK protects us from; SNAPPY - HAPPY cautions against becoming complacent. // I find the line about exile being embedded in Jewish souls very moving. Centuries of suffering and uprooting is quietly but firmly expressed in that. When Elie Wiesel was asked why has anti-semitism never abated, he did not hesitate a second. Because the Jew is history's most successful survivor, and they can't accept his continuous presence in history. I am among those Gentiles that rejoice in that survival, because it means humanity is always connected to its distant past. Some music of Mahler should accompany my statement! !

Highly enjoyable, Lind. I'm particularly intrigued by stanza 3. Seems to me like your starkly pointing out where the ties between Judaism and Christianity end. I'm not religious in any way, as I say, but good you for the faith and pride that you clearly have in your own religious beliefs. So now I have to go and print out 'Closing the Circle' all over again! : -) I'll do it at work - we've got mega hi-tech printers! Meanwhile, I'll just slip this number of yours here into my collection of treasured writing. Thanks for bringing me here, Lind, and keep sending your titles my way. Gina.