Rosemary, or: Za’atar

A haibun

Growing up, Israel was where I went with my parents to visit our extended family; I always felt comfortable here as a boy. Still, despite my having been born in Jerusalem, Israel was not home. On my visits, I felt myself an American Jewish tourist.

Having now lived in Israel for upwards of thirteen years, my perspective has shifted dramatically. This country is no longer where I spend my summer vacations. It’s home.

Still, Jerusalem’s viscerally familiar outdoor smells constantly bring me back to those visits of my youth, leaving me a perpetual visitor.

rosemary
on cool breeze; za'atar
on warm bread

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d’Verse haibun monday

At d’Verse, poets are encouraged to pen memory-themed haibun.

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Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!