Esther Cohen
Esther Cohen is a writer, teacher, and cultural activist who posts a poem a day on Overheardec@substack.com. Books and more: esthercohen.com
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Francis Ford Coppola, 80 now, great filmmaker
is making another movie he’s financing himself
about what life could be.
If you are very very lucky though luck
always looks different
you will love a person or an animal
or a place or a vocation
and you will love completely though
there are always problems
and one day maybe you will walk somewhere
an icy day in February with a six year old child
to see the Black Doll show
at the New York Historical Child
and that child, her own human being
will write carefully in the museum guest book
God Bless All Women and Men
From Ahava and Grandma.
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How to put this story together:
what happened to Jewish relatives
mine and so many others
the scenes a while ago in the long Shoah
movie where Claude Lanzman asked
people in small Ukrainian villages about Jews
and now, Jewish president,
fighting bravely against Putin
Putin wants war how can anyone ever
want war and we,
listening horrified to news and numbers
we try to understand
to know what to do
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Two restaurants a few miles apart
near our house both called Angels
run by two Mexican brothers
with the same first name Angel
the same last name of course
they no longer speak.
Angel One’s wife left him
for Angel Two.
Tell Me
my new hypnotist said
(maybe hypnosis
will help me sleep)
tell me about your mother.
We only have an hour
I replied
and we both laughed
went on
to easier subjects :
childhood education
middle age work
anything is easier
than describing your mother
even in a poem
Tattoos
Ask Miguel who hands you a prescription
how he became a CVS employee
if there is no one waiting behind
you in the line and Miguel entirely tattooed
mostly with fish although he doesn’t
fish is studying to be a tattoo artist and then
he asks if I would like to be one of his
practice subjects and I say what would
you tattoo on me and he says don’t worry
it won’t be a pill of any kind and I say
what about fish and he says you don’t seem
like the fish type. Am I wrong?
Dear Esther Cohen,
I’m writing to tell you your poems
aren’t as bad as I thought poems
would be. My daughter in law
got your poems for me.
Once she and I argued about
Robert Frost and she said
I didn’t understand poems. She’s wrong.
Of course I do. Now I’m writing now to say
there are some poems of yours I’ve actually liked.
I’m not sure if my feelings about poetry
have evolved, or if, on occasion,
there’s a good one.
I thought you’d want to know.
Bill
After it was over Nurse Amrita
asked who’s picking you up?
My husband I replied. Married
Forty years. My own engagement
has been a problem she explained.
My family is Indian and very traditional.
He’s Jamaican. We’ll finally marry in August.
Jamaicans are wonderful I said.
He’s even better Amrita replied.
He’s a Chinese Jamaican.
She walked me to meet Peter
invited us both to her wedding.
Mazel tov we said. And goodbye.
