A Certain Frame of Reference

By Ruth Steinberg

Ruth Steinberg's Frame of Reference is the Holocaust. But the Holocaust is a minor character in these gripping and evocative poems. The major players are the poet and her parents as they learn to live in the aftermath of their dislocation, trauma and loss. With an honesty that adds intensity to the poems, she uses her poetic power to explore the implications and consequences of her history.

"I was deeply moved by these poems and admiring of the line Steinberg walks: speaking of the unspeakable is a daunting task for a writer and she always avoids the cheap shot, the sentimental, and the overstated. The naturalness of her diction makes the work extremely powerful."
-Mary Gordon, author of Pearl and Final Payments

"In this extraordinary poetic depiction of Ruth Steinberg's memories, impressions and legacies as a child survivor of the Holocaust, the poet shows us how important it is to name the unnamable. Through clear, poetic language, she transforms familiar images and language into a startling expressive language of her own. Through her poetic questions and her frame of reference, she shows us the fragile nature of identity. She bears witness and beckons readers to remember and bear witness alongside her."
-June Gould, author of The Writer in All of Us

"These indelible, carefully wrought poems of the Holocaust will not leave your consciousness. Seared by memories of her early years, poet Steinberg is weighted with a lifelong sense of responsibility to remain a witness, to remember. Her poems will pierce your sensibility and leave a residue of what it was like, as the writer puts it, to 'embroider my mind with yellow stars'. I am grateful to Ruth Steinberg for this important contribution to Holocaust literature and to poetry."
-D.H. Melhem, author of New York Poems

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 16, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595835034

Ruth Steinberg

Ruth Steinberg, a child refugee from Hitler?s Vienna, grew up in New York City. Her poems appear in print and online journals, including The Paterson Literary Review, The Jewish Women?s Literary Annual and The Free Zone, and the poetry collection Counting the Stones. She lives and writes in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Book preview

A CERTAIN FRAME

OF REFERENCE

RUTH STEINBERG

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

A Certain Frame of Reference

Copyright © 2006 by Ruth Steinberg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any

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ISBN-13: 978-0-595-39116-5 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-83503-4 (ebk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-39116-8 (pbk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-83503-1 (ebk)

Printed In The United States Of America

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

How we began our life in America, Word association immigrant style,

Nightmare, and (Questions were published in The Paterson Literary

Review.

Litany of shame (in slightly different form) and June 28, 1944 were

published in The Jewish Women’s Literary Annual.

Portrait of my father was published in The Free Zone.

Freight, The Central Police Station, Elegy for an assimilated Jew, Typically

German, The things I’ve been able to find out, (Questions, It doesn’t take jack-

boots, Losses, Survivor, Things I know but can’t remember, Conversation with

myself nightmare, Space travel, Passport photo, Rockabye baby 1, How we

began our life in America, I didn’t learn any English that day, Word associa-

tion immigrant style, Collage Hansi/John, and When did I stop dreaming in

German? appeared in Counting the Stones.

With loving thanks to my fellow Holocaust poets Barbara Hyde Haber

and June Gould, whose collaboration and friendship have enriched my

life as well as my work; to June, teacher extraordinaire, in whose work-

shops so many of these poems were born; to D.H. Melhem and Susan

Baugh, whose discerning eyes helped shape my work; to Lenora Odeku,

Toni Lacativa Farkas, Mary Sochet, and Joyce Jacobson for their insights;

to Wolf for gently pushing me; and to Hannelore Hahn and The

International Women’s Writing Guild for making it all possible.

For my family:

Karen, John, Ying Lin

and

Barbara

Contents

PART I

VIENNA

VIENNA, CITY OF MY DREAMS

THEY ALL DIED

PASSAGE (After June Gould)

SUMMER IN TYROL

ELEGY FOR AN ASSIMILATED JEW

FEAR 1938

CENTRAL POLICE STATION

PASSPORT PHOTO

MY MOTHER TALKS TO HERSELF

ROCKABYE BABY 1

STILL LIFE

CONJUGATION

AFTER BUCHENWALD

PART II

IMPRESSIONS

HOW WE BEGAN OUR LIFE IN AMERICA

I DIDN’T LEARN ANY ENGLISH THAT DAY

CHANCE ENCOUNTER

COLLAGE

THE REFUGEE LADIES

NURSERY RHYME

PASSAGES

LITANY OF SHAME

JUNE 28,1944

NIGHTMARE

ROCKABYE BABY 2

PACKAGES

WORD ASSOCIATION, IMMIGRANT STYLE

THIS WAR (After Ruth Krauss)

PART III

LEGACY

FIRST AID

PORTRAIT OF MY MOTHER

LOSSES

WASHDAY MUSIC

DER SCHNEEKESSEL

ROSIE’S MAHOGANY ARMOIRE