Mikki Mendelsohn
These poems are about the little things in life, the snippets that make up millions of moments in time. From eating ice cream cones and reading under the covers in summer camp to dealing with life's clutter. But they are also about the "big" issues of life- aging, separation, devasting illness and death. However, even with these inelegant moments, there is often humor, because we do not control many events that cross our paths in the course of a life. If we can laugh along the way, maybe we can ease the pain.
Mikki Mendelsohn is a college teacher, a Rabbi, ( the first woman ordained by Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and the second woman ordained by the movement), a former manager of community and government relations for a fortune 500 company, an attorney (with a JD from Santa Clara University) and a woman who served in the Israel Defense Forces (Entertainment Corps) after the Six Day War. She received her B.A. from Hunter College and studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she lived for four years.
EARLY RISING
Getting out of bed
is like grazing fingers
over chalkboard
during thunderstorms
even when not drinking
wine the night before.
Limbs rusty as old
locomotives left in the yard;
blood frozen stiff
making movement scarce,
though stomach may rumble
returning to Morpheus
preferable to rising.
Eyes coated with sleepy seeds,
crusted like stale sesame bread
left open to dry out, as sun peeks
through slats in windowpanes
diffusing light, I long to roll over,
though I’ll meet with nasty growls
from the Maltese occupying space
who deigns to move.
I’d rather pull Bubbe’s quilt
over my head, reeking of days
gone by, long forgotten sachets
and lavender—her smells, and
return to somnolescence.
Each day may be new,
but early is akin to the Black Death—
to escape its effect than touch
my stockinged feet to a cold floor
when the sun is high in the sky,
sparrows sing their daily songs
and it’s nearly time for lunch.
