Shalom Freedman Poems

The long day is longer still
The life at home
Without a world outside
Stretches on forever
...

Do I have to write just because I need to write?
Even when I have nothing to write?
I am answering this question now
By writing when I really have nothing to write
...

I am not what I once was
And I am not what I will be
I am what I once was
And I am what I will be
...

Don't ask me where the poems begin
And why they begin
Or how they begin
And what they are about
...

THERE IS GOOD REASON FOR ME NOT TO LIVE FOREVER

I am not the person I need to be
I never will be
...

The morning is here before the first light
The night ends while there is still darkness
My mind is on the day ahead
I can already feel the breeze when I walk out the door to Shul
...

THAT I HAVE WRITTEN NOTHING
Perhaps after writing thousands of words
I will at last know
That I have written nothing
...

I am so happy sometimes now
I wonder why I am so happy now
Is it because I understand that I have already lived most of my life,
And I do not have that much time left,
...

I wonder how much time I have left
If I knew I might try to deal with the disorder
Created by years of writing and forgetting and going on
I wonder if it is a reasonable time
...

I want to be outside
I want to be in the light
I want to be moving
I want to feel free
...