{"id":4644,"date":"2024-08-12T04:03:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T04:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/?page_id=4644"},"modified":"2025-01-02T00:52:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T00:52:40","slug":"two-poems","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-5-winter-2024-2025\/two-poems\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Ohr Gutman<\/em><\/h4>\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

Family Tradition<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The door sweeps open and lets a rush of wind inside<\/span><\/p>\n

As I step into the Old City\u2019s evening air\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lavender bellflowers and vines lead me down stone steps\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Past the threshold\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

of Apartment 62, Moshe Kol Street<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am still here<\/span><\/p>\n

But I may as well be gone\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Across the street, the swings and steel slides<\/span><\/p>\n

will lie in wait\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Behind me, the building\u2019s cream color so bright during the day<\/span><\/p>\n

is blanketed by dusk<\/span><\/p>\n

And the light goes out in the window\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

of Apartment 62, Moshe Kol Street<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am in the car<\/span><\/p>\n

Leftovers of Safta\u2019s signature homemade Hamin\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

will meet a miserable, wasteful end\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The story of why Saba was jailed for 13 months under the British Mandate\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

will remain unfinished<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next summer<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll recite rehearsed greetings with words I won\u2019t remember\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

to a grandmother that calls me by my cousin\u2019s name\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I fight the seatbelt\u2019s pull to see<\/span><\/p>\n

the twinkling terraced hills of Jerusalem,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

that, like the dying embers of a fading fire,<\/span><\/p>\n

set the muted night aglow\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The city that floats on mountains\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The city I love from a distance<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am launched forward<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And a silent tear escapes my clenched eye<\/span><\/p>\n

We are fragmented<\/span><\/p>\n

We share nothing but the summer\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Time and again<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave the same Apartment 62 on Moshe Kol Street\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same Old City\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If nothing else, I have this\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A family tradition<\/span><\/p>\n

Honored and kept<\/span><\/p>\n

By one<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Rachel<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bright whites that stun against deep charcoal skin\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mounds of tight curls wrapped regally atop her crown\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That block my view in class\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The girl with the smile\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The girl whose\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eager eyes light up, who cheers, at my sight,<\/span><\/p>\n

Who invented a screaming secret handshake<\/span><\/p>\n

Just for us two\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To say hello, and so much more\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like children in the eyes of the world<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The girl who<\/span><\/p>\n

Hugs like my mother\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hugs like welcome home\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With arms like shea butter\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And skin cool to the touch\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That grounds me to the Earth<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The girl who,<\/span><\/p>\n

When I told her her\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Earrings were pretty,
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Gifted them to me the very next day\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And when on me the compliments then rained<\/span><\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t answer why\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019d given me her prettiest thing to have<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are all of these pretty things, Rachel,<\/span><\/p>\n

Then didn\u2019t you know it?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You were also the girl who<\/span><\/p>\n

Kept her head buried in her written world\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ritually chose the trance between her headphones\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And could go unnoticed in the corner of the class<\/span><\/p>\n

But I always thought you played upbeat melodies\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the journal, with you always,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You wrote of your little dreams<\/span><\/p>\n

That weren\u2019t so little<\/span><\/p>\n

But were actually many\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To adopt a cat, a monkey,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To jump from a plane,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn 7 languages and surf,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To become a national park tour guide and a therapist and a CEO,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To invent a billion dollar idea and become a billionaire<\/span><\/p>\n

But that above all\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You are a simple and curious person\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who wants to know everything\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But only a little at a time\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A little every day<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In your journal,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You wrote that you didn\u2019t know which day would be your last<\/span><\/p>\n

Or when time, for you, would stop\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But that before it does, you want to fulfill your potential<\/span><\/p>\n

Your dreams\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As many of your little dreams as possible\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So tell me, Rachel\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What about those dreams\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where will they go now?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tell me, Rachel<\/span><\/p>\n

Who really<\/span><\/p>\n

Was the girl\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Behind the smile?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Ohr Gutman\u00a0<\/strong>is a sophomore majoring in Psychology and minoring in Creative Writing.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ohr Gutman   Family Tradition   The door sweeps open and lets a rush of wind inside As I step into the Old City\u2019s evening air\u00a0 Lavender bellflowers and vines … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2513,"featured_media":0,"parent":4318,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4644","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTwo Poems - Writers House Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-5-winter-2024-2025\/two-poems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Poems - Writers House Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ohr Gutman   Family Tradition   The door sweeps open and lets a rush of wind inside As I step into the Old City\u2019s evening air\u00a0 Lavender bellflowers and vines … Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-5-winter-2024-2025\/two-poems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Writers House Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-02T00:52:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-5-winter-2024-2025\/two-poems\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-5-winter-2024-2025\/two-poems\/\",\"name\":\"Two Poems - 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