Shalom Freedman Poems

It is not just the vanity of vanities
It is not just the truth of the contradictions
It is not just ‘a time for this and a time for that'
It is not just ‘Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth before the evil days grow nigh'
...

AND IF AN OLD MAN DIES
(Yet another reflection on Koheleth)

And if an old man dies
...

A man wrote because he had nothing else he could do-

Even when the writing lost its Meaning
He had no choice but to go on with it
Until the Meaning came back-
...

Silence tells us we cannot go on-
It tells us we must go on-
We do not know where we are-
We are struggling in darkness
...

TO NOT KNOW WHAT ONE IS AND SHOULD BE

To not know what one is and should be
Is ridiculous at the age of seventy-
...

MY POEM IS ME

My poem is me
Not the greatness I would be
...

THE PORTABLE POET

The portable poet writes
wherever he goes
...

SMALL INSIDE

Small inside
I wait and hide
...