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I am forever grateful to my mother
for prayers she uttered alongside
our breakfront, for the yearly
metamorphosis of this
bulky red-brown furniture
into ark and tabernacle.
I am grateful for how she
helped blessings rain down
on its contents, a hardcover
War and Peace no one read,
a chrome serving tray
meant for show,
a miniature torah scroll from
one of the bar-mitzvah cakes,
all visible behind the glass,
baseball card sets, a shoebox
full of family photos stored below,
behind one of its doors,
linen tablecloths and expensive
silverware kept in the drawers.
I am thankful for how she dovined*
before this tall, unsecured
ceilingscraper on the High Holy Days,
how it shook when she rocked
back and forth in awe, how
in a housedress, she turned
a circle of spotless living room
carpet into sacred ground
This poem first appeared in the Paterson Literary Review .
It received an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest.
Used here with the author's permission.
*Rocking back and forth in prayer
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Bob Rosenbloom is the author of one chapbook, Reunion (Finishing Line Press, 2010). Raised in Brooklyn, Bob now lives in Bound Brook, New Jersey, where he is co-host of the Somerset Poetry Group and a member of the Westfield Poetry Group. A certified civil trial attorney, Bob also has a Master’s in Creative Writing from City College of New York. Back in the seventies, before law school, Bob often appeared on comedy showcases as a stand-up comic. He once sold six jokes to Joan Rivers and asked her, after a show, if she remembered any of them. She didn’t.
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AllegraSilberstein:
Thank you for this beautiful poem...Allegra Silberstein
Posted 11/15/2014 11:54 AM
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Pruf101:
Yes, our mothers do that, don't they...spin plastic into gold. Thank you.
Posted 11/15/2014 08:58 AM
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fuddygail:
Indeed! I can picture your Mother through your words and find it very touching....
Posted 11/15/2014 12:25 AM
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Ross Kightly:
Six jokes forgotten by Joan Rivers! Now, THAT is an achievement! I can't even remember how many (if any) of my own jokes I've forgotten. And this is a poem of true beauty. Thank you.
Posted 11/14/2014 11:21 PM
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