Gerard Sarnat Three Poems

1.Alpha Box?

 Part of Friday ritual

After Shabbat dinner

But before their bedtime

Both grandchildren swarm

Upstairs to read what each picks.

Five-year-old won’t deign to

An arduous process sounding

More words, however invents

Own very clever Oz phrase

 Kansas’s insect tornado…

Looks like Gerry’s now

Been tasked by youngest

Daughter to ramp up her elder

Son’s book-learning plus interest

Which have come toward the fore

Since dear Liavy will begin

New kindergarten this year’s

Fast-approaching autumn.

Factoid: fearless boychick

Um is so oy stunningly

Bilingual (Hebrew

– He gabs while plays

Effortlessly with pre-school’s

Israeli/ parented kids) —- that

Does not much seem to influence

Or allay his Mommy’s

Concern, thus it falls

Into Coachie’s

Domain to try

To inculcate

But not make

“Federal case”

Out of project

Boxing him in

Feeling ashamed

Since my smug mug

Admittedly does identify

With our little guy as perhaps

Another sorta sparkplug potential

Type A-ish kinda maybe star. Ughh!

 

2.L’Shana Tova*

Sunday morning

my usual weekend

morning’s FaceTime

with Davis CA grandkids

 

Evan Wilder counts 1 to 12

while munches more than that

sum of seeds from pomegranate

symbolizing not only obvious fertility

 

but which is also a Rosh Hashanah symbol

in the tradition of Kabbalah recounting there are

exactly 613 germs in each pomegranate equaling precise

mitzvot amounts God commanded then written in Talmud.

 

When tow-head Evie turned to many-colored water painting

older bro Benjamin Blaze Sarnat got dressed for initial session

at Hebrew school. Though don’t give one wit about observances

as such, I do know it will be much appreciated by Bubbe–brought

 

up Orthodox whereas Gerry’s parents—–> I were hard-core atheists.

Plus cherry right on top, their kindergarten-first-cousin bilingual Liavy

whose Abba is Israeli, has just been recruited to help teach mother tongue

to other students – and I suspect his up ‘n backs with Benji’ll eventually be

more important than classroom learning in developing practical language skills!

 

*Happy New Year

 

3: Boychicks

Of my Israeli

Son-in-law so

Guilt-ridden for

Leaving his fam

Of origin to settle

In way vaster USA

 

Has trained both boys

To be oy bilingual which

May possibly turn out like

Some secret decoder rings

They can use to communicate

When do not want me to listen.