gershon hepner Poems

Castaways upon the shores
of loneliness, we cultivate
the memories we find in ores
unmined by us until, too late,
...

There are gears that are grinding, not meshing, and causing
much pain in our lives as we head towards goals
we’ve not set for ourselves, and we drive without pausing
to places that beckon like distant Sheols
...

Although we love the power of invective,
considering messages when words are kind
and decent overwhelmingly defective,
we should avoid it if we aren’t frontlined.
...

“Am I too loud? ” the man of substance ought
to ask the world, but silence that is good as gold
is rarely a commodity that’s bought,
since drowned by volume in a tale that can’t be told.
...

To listen is an act
of love, and to respond,
if you can go beyond
the platitudes of tact,
...

CAT IN A TERMITE-TICKING HOUSE


Cat in a termite-ticking house,
...

SPEAKING OF LOVE


As soon as we have spoken of it,
...

Turning it’s back on the city, Los
Angeles, unlike its sister San
Francisco, tends to gather moss,
not patina, without coherent plan.
...

Cross rivers on a log and clutch
wet leaves before you fall.
The story of our lives is much
like that as we recall
...

Does the evening have a face
That is recognized by night?
Does it stand upon a base,
Lower than nocturnal height?
...