Tell It Not In Gath

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, 
Lest others will take me, and you'll be left behind, to roam
Amidst the muddle, the confusion of Babylon
To grasp at the words that will lead you back home.

So keep it our secret, and look, look up there
The door's just about to to open, to crack by a hair...

The Family Dynamic

Father and Grandfather, Green Beret Operation & Intelligence NCO in Vietnam War, Bronze Star recipient for Meritorious Achievement, BS Degree from Bentley College (University now,) minor in English, president PDE, Honorary Journalism Society, editor-in-chief of Yearbook, twenty five years in the Caribbean Hospitality Industry--these are just some of the accomplishments of Roy Murry. He is the author of The Audubon Caper: Untold Story of the Theft of an American Treasure. So I am truly honored that he chose to read my book and placed this review of it on his blog.

"The family dynamic has been written about since the beginning of time: the Biblical story of Joseph, Macbeth, and in the 1930s, William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury.  Like Faulkner, Ms. Poznansky uses more than one person to tell the story of “Apart From Love.”  Faulkner used four.  Ms. Poznansky uses two: Ben and Anita.  Their voices are orchestrated close to perfection in a loving way.

Each chapter is told by one or the other, explaining their understanding of the events which leads to conflict within the family circle: Ben’s father and Anita’s twice her age husband, Lenny; Lenny’s first wife and Ben’s mother, Natasha; Anita’s mom; and three aunts round out the family Kaminsky.

Interwoven into the main character’s discourses are the normal family emotions: greed, sex, hatred, control, loneliness, procreation, legacy, and everything you may think of “Apart From Love.”  No one ever uses the love word as in the phrase “I love you.” 

Anita and Ben are young and are thinking about each other.  Lenny is old and is thinking about Natasha and what could have been had she not gone into a vegetable state.  Lenny is recording his fictional novel as to what he believes is happening between his son and second wife.  The novel turns out to be his memoir.

There are family mishaps, joyous times, secrets, and torments.  Each narrator fullfills their duty by translating their opinion of the events based on their background: Ben, a worldly educated one and Anita with her street smarts’ schooling.  They each speak a different language, although are of the same generation.  The reader will enjoy their terminologies.

Ms. Poznansky pulls off a well written story of dependency.  Every one of the characters are dependent on one another and are looking for support right up to the end of this skillfully developed novel.   A very good read if you’re looking for something Apart From Love.”

In addition, here are his questions, my answers in the interview he posted here. 

Like, Tweet and Chirp

You are my ambassadors; so wherever you are
Please carry my message, near and far
Let the ripple spread north and south
'Cause all I can hope for is your word-of-mouth

So if you you come here--if you find what you like
Please take your finger out the hole in the dike
Let the flood happen, let me float home
Like, tweet and chirp, from LA to Rome 

From Tel Aviv to San Diego, from Sydney to Delhi
Don't hesitate, dear friends: go ahead, share me!

The Easiest Demise

Written by my father, Zeev Kachel

Translated by me

Oh Wind, where will you carry me

Toward what fate, what shore, what bay?

Will I be dropped to an open sea

Or else become an eagle’s prey?

For what is death? I can’t tell

How beastly, really, might it be?

They say that Death will never fell

A young-old person such as me.

And so, who knows? I have no answer

No need to trust all those deceits,

Lift me slowly, oh Wind, oh mother

Or I’ll take cover under sheets

Perhaps it’s better to seek protection

Across the ocean, in a distant town?

I have a passport, a profession

Can apply some makeup like a clown

On the other hand, to live forever

Is not so good and not preferred,

And it’s not written in any charter

What in my life still lies ahead

All my acquaintances have long expired

For me, I think, it is a sin,

To be the last one is undesired

I do not wish to lose my kin

So if to die, then with no haggling

I choose the easiest demise,

A prayer, “God is full of pity”

A headstone for a modest price

With a rotating slab of granite!

A splendid cantor, a deep voice too,

The two trees, I say, cut down, just cut

And let them not obscure my view.

Here’s how I wish to be interred:

No eulogy at the graveside plot,                       

Not nude; but with a flag, thus covered

And never mind the proper spot

Across a stunning slab of granite

My name inscribed in golden letters

As is my poem, and my portrait

A funeral procession during stormy hours

The largest crowd with scores of cars

Pretty women sob in abundant grief

Wiping their nose with a handkerchief.

Obituaries in the newspaper

Some large, some small, both bold and dainty,

And that is all. And with no torture.

For now just bring me a cup of tea.

★ Inspired by poetry? Treat yourself a gift ★

Home

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"This radiant book is an exploration of the bond between a daughter and father and the book overflows with some of the most eloquent poetic moments in print. HOME is an invitation, a very personal one, and should not be passed over." 

- Grady Harp, Hall of Fame Reviewer

Home through a Different Lens

A month ago I posted my painting, My Father's Armchair; it described my childhood home from an angle I had discovered during the mourning period. This time I want to show you the same space from a different angle, and through a different lens; my father's. 

When he retired from his job as a principal safety engineer at Israel's Electric Company, he could focus with renewed energy on the activities upon which he thrived: poetry and art. So here is his painting, called Home:

There are three things which I find particularly interesting about this painting. The first one is the somewhat awkward perspective. He drafted the lines in a manner that makes them converge not in the distance--the way they normally do. Rather, the lines converge at a point below the painting, perhaps at the heart of the observer. Done this way, the entire scene seems to be placed at a higher plane, as if you look up at the memory of home.

The second thing which is interesting to me, is the fact that the space is divided. On the right side is my childhood home, complete with the painting hanging over the red sofa, the small rug underneath, and the gorgeous design, carefully detailed, of the persian rug that adorned the floor.  But then, on the right side, the shelves disappeared from view, the wall melted away to show the vision of an entirely different space: my father's childhood home! He remembered the red-brick fireplace, the warmth given off by the fire, and his mother's hand, rocking the cradle.

The third thing to note is the creatures incorporated into his world view. The moon shines upon the scene with great pity and compassion, but next to it is a dark, evil presence blowing cold steam upon the home. And through the window, a hungry wolf is peeking in from the dark. The wolf symbolizes the dangers awaiting  this baby when he grows up and goes out into the world. At the same time, the wolf is the name-sake of my father, Zeev Kachel, which literally means Blue Wolf. By painting this creature, my father says that he is, at the core, a danger to himself...

★ Inspired by poetry? Treat yourself a gift ★

Home

FREE Nook ★ Apple ★ Kobo 

 Google Play ★ Smashwords

Paperback ★ Hardcover 

Audiobook

"Home is not for the faint of heart. It is meant to reach deep inside the reader's soul"

I Don't just Make Stuff Up

"I don’t just make stuff up. I imagine new worlds and the people within them. And then quietly and with a curious eye, I spy on them to see what they will do next," says Van Heerling, the author of Malaika and Dreams of Eli. I had a lot of fun when interviewed on his blog, because his questions are different--as you will find out. 

To read more, click here.

A Second Chat with Rob at Cowboy Wisdom NLP Radio

I am very honored that the host of Cowboy Wisdom NLP Radio, Rob Wilson, invited me for a second interview! Rob is a certified professional coach and motivational speaker, generating, facilitating, and illuminating life's possibilities in all people. He is a regular on the Stu Taylor Radio Show, 'Equity Strategies and Business Talk' and a published author of several books: The Wisdom of a Cowboy: Crossing the River and Climbing the Mountain, Wired for Change by a Journeyman and American Worker: Prison Wagesin the Private Sector. 

We talked about my art, about my novel, Apart From Love, offered free for three days (Aug. 31-Sep. 2, 2012) and about my upcoming poetry book, Home. You can listen to it here.