April 2014

FEATURED POET:  Esther Altshul Helfgott: is a nonfiction writer and poet with a PhD in history from the University of Washington. Her work appears in American Imago: Psychoanalysis and the Human Sciences, The American Psychoanalyst, Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer’s Disease, Blue Lyra Review, Chrysanthemum, DRASH: Northwest Mosaic, Floating Bridge Review, FragLit Journal, HistoryLink, Into the Storm: Journeys with Alzheimer’s, Journal of Poetry Therapy, Maggid: A Journal of Jewish Literature, Raven Chronicles, Seattle P.I., Seattle Star,  and elsewhere. She’s a longtime literary activist, a 2010 Jack Straw poet, and founder of Seattle’s “It’s About Time Writer’s Reading Series,” now in its 24th year. She is the author of The Homeless one: A Poem in Many Voices (Kota, 2000) and Dear Alzheimer’s: A Caregiver’s Diary & Poems (Cave Moon Press, 2013).

I don’t know

what the mountain feels

but we liked watching

it change—clouds came

seasons went

I wish I could find you

in my dreams—

you must be busy

—what are you doing

that’s so important

my friends help me

get up in the morning—

Lucille Clifton

does too—

—Esther Altshul Helfgott

WRITE YOUR POEM:

Esther writes in the spirit of the tanka.  A Japanese word for a short poem, the more formal form became known as a waka. Unlike people drinking coffee in cafes and listening to friends, the waka became a formal poem exchanged between lovers set up over rituals around drinking tea.

What are your rituals?  What drives you to write your poem?  Make it short.  Send it to someone you love.  Write your poem.