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Poetry

Who gives a fig?
by Anna Eskenazi Bush
 
Twig tea
Turkish figs
who gives a fig?
 
Normally happy and optimistic
when you have had fatigue for 18 months
and then you have a cold
and then it is cold outside
and then you want to work and do at least a thing or two
and no one believes you
though some pretend
 
I am learning to be and not do
but doing is okay sometimes
 
I'd smash something against the wall
if I had the energy

​Athena Debased
 
Why does Sadie always smell
of alcohol?
(not beer, maybe whiskey)
She looks like Mother Earth and Athena
 
Her mind is keen
it works, organizes, analyzes, thinks.
 
From a distance, all seems well
but close up...
the smell
​Saving Our Eyes with Donuts & Wrens
By Anna Eskenazi Bush and Rosanna Bonfilio
 
Saving our eyes with donuts and wrens
Get out the pens
Let’s make amends
 
I am Anna
Yes, I like bananas
And my friend Rosanna

Told of an article she read
While lying in bed
About eyes she said
 
When reading we need to look away
Stop reading, just a slight delay
Or else our curious eyes will pay
 
Look away, look up, look out
 
From her window, Rosanna can see
A truck with a donut bigger than me
It might go good with a cup of tea
 
But Rosanna is not a big sugar fan
She’d rather cook tofu up in a pan
Her eyes and waist are safe, oh man
 
Now me, when I’m on video call
The birds, the wrens, are on the ball
And come to my window feeders, never to fall
 
So, thank you donuts and birds
I hope you all have heard
And do not think it absurd
 
That we can save our eyes
It is no lie
Bye-bye
My work on Spoonie Press (the anthology can be ordered on Amazon)

And finally I have come to rest

​Wisdom Highlights
By Anna Eskenazi Bush
 
Old age, those ugly gray hairs
reminding the reflection in the mirror
that youth fades and moves us closer to death
 
But I smile at that reflection
because I see wisdom highlights, not gray hair
 
I smile at that reflection
for the spirit in that seasoned body is free
 
I smile at that reflection
that has a deep knowing of everything being interconnected
a knowing that death is an illusion

P.S. This poem is gluten-free
Anna Eskenazi Bush
 
If you tried to cheer me with an up-beat melody
that made my heart sing inside
made my bones long to rise
called my soul to dance
would I dare to risk, to take a chance
and toddle to the open floor
attempt to soar
only to drop down suddenly in a chair
from my limp spaghetti legs
unable to support my dream
 
Yet joyfully I sing
watching the diaper-clad toddler
dancing awkwardly
like elbow pasta shimmying in boiling water
she is risking nothing
free to flow
get up and go
as her heart is soaring
her soul is in every wiggle
and, upon tiring
she plops down and
studies her toes
 
 
 

​Yell
By Anna Eskenazi Bush
 
Yell for the hell of it
but not for the anger of it
Yell at the void
but not to avoid
reality

The full moon shines
while I whine
My very real struggles sometimes
are too much
for my eyes and
heart

Now your part
starts with your ears and
heart

Hear and acknowledge
keep your personal knowledge
inside
Be silent
Be still
Listen deeply

Let your heart love shine
These real struggles are mine
Not for you to dissect
Or object
but to hold space
learn grace
no trace
of unsolicited advice
Just support
No retort
Mouth closed
Eyes and heart open

Young People Love My Hair
by Anna Eskenazi Bush
 
In the past week
two random young people
told me they loved my hair
 
My crazy, black and white, curly, frizzy, longish hair
 
And what pleased me most about
these interactions
was not so much the compliment
but the feeling that
these young people
really get how important it is
to just be yourself
express yourself
and love yourself
as yourself
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