Shalom Freedman Poems

I WALK AND LINES COME TO ME

I walk and lines come to me-
Then I stop somewhere
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NO UNREAD POEM WILL END THE DESPAIR I FEEL NOW

No unread poem will end the despair I feel now
Nor will a poem read
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WHEN THE POEM IS NOT WRITTEN

When the poem is not written
And time goes its way,
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THE POEMS HAVE LOST THEIR WAY

The poems have lost their way-
They have become simple statements of feeling,
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DESPAIR IS HEAVY

Despair is heavy
And I am heavier than I have been in a long time-
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BEFORE I WAS AN OLD MAN

Before I was an old man
Many centuries ago
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WAR IS NOT A POEM

War is not a poem-
Death is not a poem-
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THE IDEAL FUTURE PROMISED US

All that we are
Will become something else-
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OH SADNESS IS AND SADNESS MORE

Oh Sadness is and Sadness More
What is worse
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OUTSIDE IS WHERE THE WORLD IS

Outside is where the world is.
I will go into it soon.
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