A haibun Last week, unexpectedly, I had the privilege of participating in a two-day public speaking training. The workshop was intended for a limited number of fundraising employees who directly interact with donors, which definitely does not include the writing team. However, as one of my colleagues was unable to participate due to unfortunate health… Continue reading Opportunity, or: Onus
An American sentence: At work, I received a very positive annual review, which made me feel awkward. What's an 'American Sentence'? Allen Ginsberg, inventor of the American Sentence, felt that the haiku didn’t work as well in English. Ginsberg decided to remove the line structure of the haiku, maintaining the requirement of 17 syllables total.… Continue reading The game, or: Low expectations
Backstory At The Jewish Agency for Israel, where I work in Jerusalem, there's an Office of Global Customer Experience (GCE), which is relatively new. Amir, the Director of GCE, is the creative sort, as one might expect, and he believes that any successful "customer experience" must begin with an organization's employees, whom he also considers… Continue reading Poetry for work
You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it. -Grace Lee Boggs (1915 – 2015) Let's be real. Most of us will never change our societies in any substantial way. I will never make any great impact upon Israeli society,… Continue reading You cannot change any society unless…
A shadorma this office- I haven't grown up -these walls grew around me- my plant's growing towards me rooted but eager Tanka Tuesday For #TankaTuesday, Colleen Chesebro invites writers to share their days in syllabic poems. All we have to do is take a photo and write a syllabic poem about this day, as we… Continue reading Rooted, or: Eager
Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining - it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn't solve any problems! -Zig Ziglar (1926 – 2012) This year, after nearly thirteen years in Israel as an adult, I got a job that I can rely upon in the long term. My first reaction… Continue reading Grateful for security
Poets of Babel Last year (2021), during the Jewish autumn festival of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), I attended a local gathering of poets in Jerusalem, hosted by Shoshana - a poet I'd come across here on WordPress who happens to live down the street from me. Then, in May '22, I attended another poetry reading… Continue reading In-person versus online poetry community
A Choka even though I'm blessed even though it gives me pride even for a cause even with kind, friendly folks even for good pay even with a strong union even close to home even at a storied site It feels much like work to me Choka? The most intricate Japanese Poetry form is the… Continue reading Looks, swims, quacks, or: Silly goose
The Skeptic's Kaddish 🇮🇱 
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