Shalom Freedman Poems

I LOVED THE WORLD OF LITERATURE

I loved the world of Literature
And longed to belong to it
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The poems come from all directions
They overwhelm with their meanings and their beauties-
How many voices and names finer than mine
Have there been and will there be in the world?
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A poem can be written anywhere, anytime-
A poem can be written too early in the morning
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THE WORLD I LIVED IN IS NO MORE

The world I lived in is no more
The world I live in now is less and less my own
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I WROTE A POEM WITH THE STARS AS MY LIGHT

I wrote a poem with the stars as my light
And thought of all the distances between the lines-
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The poem I am writing now
does not know if it will be finished
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I wanted to write the one poem everyone would remember
Though I knew it had already been written many times by others-
I wanted to write the one poem
Which long after I was dead
Would say to me when I could not hear
‘You will live forever as Literature’
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A MAN BECAME ADDICTED TO POETRY

A man became addicted to poetry-
Wherever he went he read or wrote a few lines-
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THE POEM’S TRUTH IS THAT IT SAYS MORE THAN IT KNOWS

The poem’s truth is that it says more than it knows
That it goes beyond its own intention
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I RETURN TO THE WORLD OF POETRY

I return to the world of Poetry
I feel as if I am coming home-
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