Irritation Is Not The Best Feeling To Begin A Poem With Poem by Shalom Freedman

IRRITATION IS NOT THE BEST FEELING TO BEGIN A POEM WITH

Irritation is not the best Feeling to begin a poem with
But the great heat, the great humidity
The slowness of my mind on Motzei Shabbat
The many errands that must be done tomorrow
The inability to begin true work,
The news of another anti- Semitic utterance by the Nobel Prize winner Gunter Grass
Above all the worry over the health of a family member
All these irritate and disturb-

And I can at best write a few plain lines
Begin to work
To make myself feel better
But not really influence what is outside myself-

And too the irritation that my poem and my words
Will reach a few at best
While the mendacious former Waffen SS member's poem
Has already made its hateful way to headlines in the world-

Oh it is wonderful to be an obscure nothing in writing
When it is only my own name and reputation which are involved,
But when it means I cannot really help the people I care about
This irritation this frustration anger so-

Oh how I just pray that my loved one
Will be after the doctor's visit
Better tonight.