FEATURED POET:
Esther Altshul Helfgott is a nonfiction writer and poet with a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. Her work appears in American Imago: Psychoanalysis and the Human Sciences, the Journal of Poetry Therapy, Maggid: A Journal of Jewish Literature, The American Psychoanalyst, Drash: Northwest Mosaic, Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer's Disease, The Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Review, Floating Bridge Review, HistoryLink, Pontoon, Raven Chronicles, The Seattle P.I., FragLit & elsewhere. Her chapbook, The Homeless One: a poem in many voices (Kota, 2000) is a poetic docu-drama about homelessness & schizophrenia. Esther is a 2010 Jack Straw poet. Find her at:
http://www.estherhelfgott.com/
http://www.estherhelfgott.com/
Reading with Alzheimer's
Sprawled out
in the recliner
wearing
a tie-dyed shirt
the kids
gave him,
a Middle Eastern
yarmulke
on his head,
he holds
a book of stories
in his hands,
turns
the pages
as he always did:
carefully,
respectfully,
leaning, learning
words the brain loses
before he under-
in the recliner
wearing
a tie-dyed shirt
the kids
gave him,
a Middle Eastern
yarmulke
on his head,
he holds
a book of stories
in his hands,
turns
the pages
as he always did:
carefully,
respectfully,
leaning, learning
words the brain loses
before he under-
stands.
10/29/05, 3 am
As I Sit In Class
I think of him
wanting
to come home,
how I pinned
my business card
to his undershirt.
On the back
I wrote:
You're in Adult Day Care.
I'm going to class.
I'll pick you up
at 1:30 p.m.He reads the words
with me. I kiss him
goodbye,
give the nurse
a plastic baggie
filled with tylenol
and a just-in-case Ativan.
In class,
Jeanne, Mary
and I
write
and talk
about writing.
We read Bill Stafford's
What's In My Journal
while my first cell phone
sits unringing
but ready
on the desk by the door.
wanting
to come home,
how I pinned
my business card
to his undershirt.
On the back
I wrote:
You're in Adult Day Care.
I'm going to class.
I'll pick you up
at 1:30 p.m.He reads the words
with me. I kiss him
goodbye,
give the nurse
a plastic baggie
filled with tylenol
and a just-in-case Ativan.
In class,
Jeanne, Mary
and I
write
and talk
about writing.
We read Bill Stafford's
What's In My Journal
while my first cell phone
sits unringing
but ready
on the desk by the door.
11/4/05, 8:45 pm
Look at them on: What kids can do
We're still writing and publishing student work. Amber Ortiz, an alumni of the project presented her book at Heritage University last month. More to come.
WRITE YOUR POEM:
What if you saved your Halloween costume, put it on now and wrote a poem in the costume? Maybe read your favorite poem? What associations change?...just make sure not to go to public...never know what will happen with a poet in disguise...write, dance, find your way to take those minutes and create. Let us know what you think
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