Reflections: Poems, Lyrics, and Stories

By Judith W. Liberman and Laura Liberman

REFLECTIONS includes works written or adapted from writings created over a period of more than half a century. This anthology contains poems, lyrics, and stories, each written by one member of the mother-daughter team of Judith Weinshall Liberman (mother) and Dr. Laura Liberman (daughter). The vast majority of the works were previously unpublished.

Both authors have spent most of their adult lives pursuing activities other than writing. For decades, Judith Weinshall Liberman created visual art. Dr. Laura Liberman has had a rewarding career in medicine. Yet both authors have long had a passion for writing and have written extensively within and outside their career fields. Judith Weinshall Liberman has published six books. Dr. Laura Liberman wrote I SIGNED AS THE DOCTOR (2009), a memoir recounting her experiences as a cancer doctor surviving cancer.

In REFLECTIONS, the authors reflect on their lives and the people they have known. The poems, lyrics, and stories in REFLECTIONS cover a wide range of topics, and are arranged in about a dozen categories. Some writings are humorous, while others are somber. All come from the authors heart. Like life itself, REFLECTIONS covers the whole gamut of human experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475941920

Judith W. Liberman

Judith Weinshall Liberman, author, and Laura Liberman, author and editor, are a mother-daughter team. While both have had careers beyond writing (Judith in visual arts and Laura in medicine), each is also a published author. Reflections is their collaborative anthology of poems, lyrics, and stories written over a period of more than half a century.

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Copyright © 2012 by Judith Weinshall Liberman and Laura Liberman

The authors are grateful for permission to use previously copyrighted materials. In all cases, such materials are expressly indicated in the book as having been previously copyrighted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this book are either the products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-4191-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4198-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4192-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914014

iUniverse rev. date: 9/10/2012

Contents

Preface

Introduction

History of the Works

Poems and Lyrics

1. Love

LOVE IS LOVE

HEAVEN

MY PRINCE

MAN AND WOMAN

DO NOT SEND ME

TAKE CARE, MY DARLING

WHEN WE MET

THE WAY HE WAS

THE WORLD’S DEAREST MATE

LETTER TO MY HUSBAND

SOUL MATE

THE BEST THING ABOUT LIFE

FAITH

SO DISTANT

NOT FOR ME

FOR FEAR

HER LETTER

THE LETTER THAT YOU DID NOT WRITE

2. Sonnets of Nature

I DON’T LIKE FALLING LEAVES

THE FLOWERS

THE ROSES

THE CRABAPPLE TREE

THE CHERRY TREE

THE BIRD PERCHED ON THE WINDOWSILL

THE MOTHER BIRD TEACHES HER YOUNG

THE SQUIRRELS

THE RABBITS

LION AND THE LAMB

WERE YOU A HONEYBEE AND I A ROSE

THE BUTTERFLY

CAMOUFLAGE

FLY AWAY

THE TREE HOUSE

I MADE A LITTLE ANGEL

THE PIGEONS

FISHING

THE SEASHELL

I CAUGHT A TOAD THIS MORNING

THE CAT CURLED UP

CANINE CUISINE

THE MOUSE TRAP

THE ELEPHANTS

WHY DO DOGS CHASE CARS?

WHY DO CHICKENS CROSS THE STREET?

3. Student Days

DEAR STUDENT

PHI BETA KAPPA

PLATO AND ME

4. Israel Diary

LETTER TO MY FATHER

POLITICAL PRISONER

LETTER TO MY MOTHER

HER SUICIDE

MY NANNY

IN THE WOODS

PUPPY LOVE

DIAMOND RING

MY BROTHER, SAUL

DEAR ANNE-MARIE

IN A STORMY LAND

AT THE WEDDING

IN HAIFA BAY

THE FIELDS OF TAMRA

ON THE ROAD

BENEATH THE SAND

TORN BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES

WHAT IS THE FORCE?

5. Looking Back

CHAIN

THE TUNNEL

BETRAYAL

ON THE BEACH

HOWLING WIND

PET PROJECT

SEEING RED

REUNION

THOUGHTS AT NIGHT

THOUGHTS AT SUNRISE

WHAT I WISH FOR IN LIFE

MY DARKEST SECRET

MY REGRETS

LEGALLY BLIND

WHAT I LEAVE BEHIND

ACCOMPLISHMENT

IF YOU REMEMBER ME

6. Death

SODOM

ENDLESS WAR

IN THE NAME OF GOD

IN THE MILITARY CEMETERY

THE BLANKET

DYING YOUNG

LIKE SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER

RED, GRAY AND BLACK

MOM, I MISS YOU

ON NINE-ELEVEN

THE FINGER OF GOD

7. Human Foibles

HOW ARE YOU?

GOOD HEALTH

KNOWLEDGE

MEMORY

VANITY

SHOP AND SHOP

STOOD UP

YOUR CALL

RIVAL

LIAR

BEING DEVOUT

DRIVING

8. Musings

ON FRIENDSHIP

ON KINDNESS

ON COMPASSION

ON ENVY

ON LONGING

ON MATING

ON BEING A PARENT

ON BEING A GRANDMA

MY HOME

ON SHOWERS

BEING GOOD

KEEPING ON

ON LIFE’S PAIN

ON CAVES

LET GO!

IF I KNEW

IF WE COULD SOAR

QUEEN FOR A DAY

9. Enchantment

COLOR IN OUR WORLD

PINK ROSES

FLOWERS

THE MAGIC FLOWER

SNOW IS WHITE

ICE CREAM SNOW

I PULLED MY BACK IN ST. CEZAIRE

MINDFULLY IN PARIS

10. Art

A POEM A DAY

ON COLLABORATION

TWENTY-SIX LETTERS

TWELVE NOTES

THREE HUES

ON ART

WHAT IS AN ARTIST?

EASILY SHAKEN

ARTISTS DON’T DIE

WRITER’S BLOCK

I WOKE UP

WHAT IS THE STAR?

SO MANY ROADS

Stories

HOUSE TO LET

ODE TO A NEUTROPHIL

ICE CREAM SNOW

THE LITTLE FAIRY

THE VERY OLD PAINTER

THE BIRD’S LAST SONG

About the Author: Judith Weinshall Liberman

About The Author/Editor: Laura Liberman, M.D.

This book is dedicated with love

to the memory of

Judith’s husband and Laura’s father, Prof. Robert Liberman

Judith’s father and Laura’s grandfather, Dr. Abraham Weinshall

Judith’s brother and Laura’s uncle, Saul Weinshall

and to our beloved family

Judith’s son and Laura’s brother, Dr. David Liberman

Judith’s grandchildren and Laura’s children,

Daniel & Nina

Judith’s grandchildren and Laura’s nieces,

Cynthia & Deborah

Judith’s son-in-law and Laura’s husband,

Dr. David Perlman

You inspire us.

Preface

Judith Weinshall Liberman

My materials included in this collection were written or adapted from works created over a period of more than half a century, from 1949, when I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley, until the present time (2012).

Although I spent the bulk of my adult life creating visual art, I did, over the years, take time out to write, and had six books published. These ranged from a textbook on international law (INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, 1955), which I wrote in Hebrew for use by my law students in Israel, to a children’s book (THE BIRD’S LAST SONG, Addison-Wesley, 1976), to a book about one of my most important series of artworks (HOLOCAUST WALL HANGINGS, 2002), to my autobiography (MY LIFE INTO ART, 2007), to two books of plays (LOOKING BACK, 2010, and ON BEING AN ARTIST, 2012). During this half century and more, I also wrote many unpublished poems, stories, plays, and short novels.

Having shifted my focus to playwriting after reaching my eighties, I developed one of my plays - GOOD OLD ABRAHAM - into a musical play. While doing so, I wrote 18 lyrics and collaborated with a gifted young composer on the music. Working on my first musical whetted my appetite for that theatrical genre, so I wrote the libretto for my second musical, TO BE AN ARTIST, which included 20 lyrics. Again I collaborated with the same gifted young composer on the music.

I so enjoyed writing lyrics for my two musicals and collaborating with my gifted young composer, that I decided, at the completion of my second musical, to try my hand at writing lyrics independently of any musical play. This creative endeavor I started in 2012, and sent each lyric to my composer for his composition. On each occasion, I was delighted to hear his voice recording of the song.

While writing lyrics, I found myself also writing poems which may or may not be suitable to be set to music. Out of curiosity, I searched among my papers to find some old poems I had written during various periods of my life, some in Hebrew (my mother tongue) and some in English. After studying my old poems, I translated and/or rewrote several of them, leaving some as poems and structuring others as lyrics.

I find it strange that in my old age, after spending my life pursuing so many other creative outlets, I ended up becoming a poet, as my mother was. During her youth in Russia, my mother wrote and publicly recited her poetry and had many of her poems published in the press. After immigrating to Israel (then called Palestine) in 1920 and mastering the Hebrew language, she wrote poetry in Hebrew and recited it in public. She also published a couple of books of her poetry. Although I was familiar with her poetry, it never occurred to me that some day, when I reached old age, I would myself so enjoy writing poems.

While writing my poems and lyrics, I decided to publish these as a collection. To round out the picture, I thought it would be good to include in the book some of the lyrics I wrote for my two musicals as well as some of my more poetic short stories, which were originally intended as children’s stories.

The idea of collaborating on this book with my daughter, Dr. Laura Liberman, came to us during one of our many phone conversations in which I read my newly-written poems and lyrics to Laura and she responded to them with great insight. Although Laura is a medical doctor who has spent many years caring for patients, writing medical papers, and writing and editing medical books, she has a passion for literature and music. She was always a gifted writer. From her childhood through college and medical school, she wrote poems and stories. More recently, she wrote a memoir about her experience as a cancer doctor surviving cancer (I SIGNED AS THE DOCTOR, 2009). We thought it would enhance the quality of the book if we could not only include some of her writings, but also have her serve as the editor.

Introduction

Laura Liberman, M.D.

My mother, Judith Weinshall Liberman, is a force.

After graduating with highest honors from college and first in her class from law school, my mother decided to pursue her artistic passion, and dedicated much of the next several decades to creating visual art. In recent years, she developed macular degeneration which impaired her vision. In response to this life challenge, my mother did not bemoan her fate. Instead, in her 80s, she transformed herself into a playwright, a poet, and a lyricist. The beautiful caterpillar became a butterfly.

In the fall of 2011, after surviving cancer treatment several years previously, I developed a severe eye condition which substantially impaired my vision. I turned to my mother during this time, and she showed me the light. Not only did she give me practical suggestions for dealing with visual impairment, she taught me life lessons about resilience, about finding silver linings, and about what matters most. And we laughed a lot.

It has been a joy to watch the playwright/poet/lyricist emerge from the chrysalis that was my mother. Since her childhood in Israel, my mother had always enjoyed writing, but it was only within the last few years that she has dedicated herself primarily to this form of creative expression. We took an on-line playwriting class together at Gotham Writers’ Workshop, which allowed me to experience first-hand what my father had told me for years about being her classmate: my mother is the best student, ever. My father/Judith’s husband, Professor Robert Liberman, loved books and wrote wonderful short stories. In every word we write, he lives.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading my mother’s manuscripts and of seeing her plays produced. In the spring of 2012, we traveled to Haverstraw Village, New York, and saw her play, VINCENT’S VISIT, directed by Samuel Harps, produced as part of a festival celebrating women playwrights. How appropriate, I thought, because there is no better cause for celebration than my mother. In the weeks surrounding the festival, during our many phone conversations when she read me her beautiful poems, we conceived the idea of publishing a collection of poems, lyrics, and stories as a book, and REFLECTIONS was born. Most of the works in the book are written by my mother; I was delighted to contribute some of my own writings and to serve as the book’s editor.

REFLECTIONS is organized into two parts, with the first part including poems and lyrics and the second part including some of our more poetic stories. We have organized the poems and lyrics into broad categories: love, sonnets of nature, student days, Israel diary (reflecting my mother’s childhood in Israel and her abiding attachment to her native land), looking back, death, human foibles, musings, enchantment, and art. Within each category, the works are grouped somewhat chronologically, and in a manner that tells a story - at heart, we are both storytellers.

A key feature that differentiates a lyric from a poem is that a lyric generally has a chorus, a repeated section that captures the central message of the work. In REFLECTIONS, the choruses of the lyrics are indented, so they can be readily identified.

Our joyful collaboration has allowed me to get to know my mother in a new way. As editor, I suggested to my mother that I take care of some of the more mundane details, such as formatting. Although my mother agreed, delegation does not come readily to her (as it doesn’t to me!). Sometimes she would ask me to do something, and then she would do it herself. I gently reminded her of a saying a dear friend had told me about delegation: Why get a dog and then bark yourself? Throughout the process, we’ve both learned to bark less.

A happy challenge of editing the book is that my mother is so prolific that she would send me a new piece of writing - a poem or a lyric - almost every day! We eventually realized that if she keeps writing new works to be included in this book, the book might never be finished. We agreed that she should keep on writing new works (there is no stopping her) - and that the new writings will serve as the basis for our next book.

My mother’s transformation from visual artist to writer inspires me. I have a fabulous meditation teacher who says, You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. Life has many waves, and my mother is surfing with the best of them. She is my role model and my muse. She is my mother.

REFLECTIONS means many things. In this book, we reflect on our lives and the people we have known. The picture on the cover is a reproduction of one of my favorite photographs of my mother and father - and they see themselves through their reflections in each other’s eyes. And in collaborating with my mother, I see her and I see me, and I see the parts of me that are reflections of who she is and who she has helped me to become.

I love you, Mom.

History of the Works

A POEM A DAY: 2012

ACCOMPLISHMENT: 2012

ARTISTS DON’T DIE: from TO BE AN ARTIST, musical, 2011 (with permission)

AT THE WEDDING: rewritten 2012 (original: Israel, early 1990s)

BEING DEVOUT: 2012

BEING GOOD: 2012

BENEATH THE SAND: rewritten 2012 (original: Israel, early 1990s)

BETRAYAL: 2012

CAMOUFLAGE: from Sonnets of Nature, 1975

CANINE CUISINE: from Sonnets of Nature, 1975

CHAIN: 2012

COLOR IN OUR WORLD: from TO BE AN ARTIST, musical, 2011 (with permission)

DEAR ANNE-MARIE: 2012

DEAR STUDENT: rewritten 2012 (original: University