gershon hepner Poems

Face being who you are,
Søren Kierkegaard declared, for being you will change
the one you are, the avatar
of all the things that you can do, if they are in your range.
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JERUSALEM AFTER CONSTANTINE

When after Constantine the Christians spurned
the Temple site where Roman vandals burned
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Before guys notice clothes and legs and décolleté
they pay attention to a woman's lips,
and they're painted they will try to find a way
to check their taste before she even strips.
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IT'S NECESSARY TO TALK ABOUT THE TREES


It's necessary to talk about the trees
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Spendthrifts tend to love tightwads,
and sadists all love masochists;
we all are drawn to foreign gods,
even if we’re atheists.
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Three matriarchs appeared quite sterile,
Sarah and Rebekkah and
young Rachel who, though fair, was feral
when Jacob worked to seek her hand.
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Funerals and weddings are about
the family you’re embarrassed to belong to;
as soon as arrive you’re filled with doubt,
and wish to leave, but know it would be wrong to.
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A taste as old as cold, cold water,
don’t put them in long drinks, but shorter,
martinis or a Bloody Mary.
They clear the head and make it airy,
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Laertes thinks her madness is felonious,
at Hamlet taking peevishly pot-shots,
recalling his own paths called by Polonius
primrose, while she picks forget-me-nots.
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From Aristophanes to Sam-
uel Beckett comedy provides
redemption for the world you damn
by pointing out its funny sides.
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