Man of Verse

By Stephen Fernbach

I grew up in Bayonne, NJ. I was an honour student at Bayonne High School winning the Science Award. I majored in Bio and minored in Education at Rutgers. Later in my career, I earned an MS in Public Health at Hunter College.
I spent most of my career in the Imports division of the NY FDA. I was a field investigator during the first ten years of my career working as a sample collector and fact-finder in Elizabeth, NJ. The remainder of my career I worked in the office at Headquarters in Jamaica, New York answering phone inquiries from the regulated industry and provided clerical support to management and compliance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Fernbach
• Release date: Sep 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9787749075889

Stephen Fernbach

I grew up in Bayonne, NJ. I was an honour student at Bayonne High School winning the Science Award. I majored in Bio and minored in Education at Rutgers. Later in my career, I earned an MS in Public Health at Hunter College.I spent most of my career in the Imports division of the NY FDA. I was a field investigator during the first ten years of my career working as a sample collector and fact-finder in Elizabeth, NJ. The remainder of my career I worked in the office at Headquarters in Jamaica, New York answering phone inquiries from the regulated industry and provided clerical support to management and compliance.

Book preview

The Untouchable

I live in my own little world

Trying to escape my private hell

Where I take refuge.

They say,

I’m not talking to him. He’s crazy!

I remain untouchable.

Adrift on the Internet,

Or lost in the bookstore

Finding escape from loneliness

In the wit found in bestsellers, movies and pop songs

Leaving me feeling a little empty and a lot broke.

Still I keep reaching out until I find

Someone who will not mind that I am different,

Especially if she is different too.

A pair of outcasts finding their way,

No longer alone,

Touching one another.

Even if people laugh, neither of us care.

We have something special.

Untouchable no more!

If You Can’t Be My Wife

If you can’t be my wife,

Will you be my significant other?

I need some one to break bread with.

Perhaps, share my bed with.

I want to spend my time with you,

Be your close friend and full time lover

Because I want only you

And will settle for no other.

I need your love and time to recover

From an empty and incomplete life.

If a diamond on your finger is required,

It would be a joy to give

If you wear it as desired.

You’re the kind of person

I want to keep for life.

So be my significant other

If you can’t be my wife.

Twelve Billion Glowing Orbs

After the Big Bang,

Within a trillionth of a second,

Nuclei became particles and then atoms

And within a thousandth of a second,

The universe resonated with thunder

Until mysteriously the first thought (ohm) occurred

By the Prime Mover

Who then travelled to a misty galaxy

And grabbed a huge bundle of subatomic string,

Rolled it into a ball,

Blew hot breath over it,

And tossed it deep into the heavens

Where it broke up

Into twelve billion glowing orbs

Each having a distinct personality

Which became Human Potential.

The Good Lord first built Heaven

To guide and protect us all

And Earth to stage our struggle.

Almost

Almost became a millionaire,

Almost a dentist,

Almost brilliant.

Currently, an obscure poet

Whose work is inconspicuous

To everyone except a chosen few

Who realize the tragedy

Of this almost prospect of greatness.

But, I still have plenty of time

To find and be loved,

To achieve self respect,

To fulfill my personal goals

And to try to reach to some degree

My almost God-given potential.

So that when I meet my Maker,

He will have no reason for saying Almost.

Conflict

Wrestle in confusion

For the seed of resolution

While the answer is out of reach

No relief from the anguish of the breach.

Debated element by element

And is necessary for human development.

Guarded with knowledge

Are the lessons we do salvage.

Sometimes lenient,

Sometimes strict

Is the state of conflict.

Equality Among the Faiths

We are all G-d’s children,

Both young and old.

We all try to be good

And do as we are told.

We all need approval

From Heaven above.

Every man and woman

Needs a little love

No matter the faith or race

There will come a time

When you will meet Him face to face.

While no two people are equal,

We all need equal love and respect.

Hard work and an honest effort

Will give the good results you expect.

This is the Golden Rule

Arisen from the simple lessons

Learnt when you first start school.

It does not matter what flag

You choose to wave,

There should be equality among the faiths.

A Man of Verse for

Better or Worse

His inner voice lights up the page

With sarcasm, mirth and subtle rage.

He may express some hidden desire

To set the whole world high on fire.

He may speculate on the nature of man.

He may accept defeat

Because he did what he can

To make the world a more sensitive place

Where all involved hold a happy face.

He may have found all the ironies within

That bind our souls to mortal sin.

He may have found unconsummated love

That keeps his hopes high

With the angles above.

You should not give this man

Neither an evil hiss nor curse

Because this man remains always

A man of verse for better or worse.

Shalom

And so my friends,

When the decade ends,

Really glad to have met you.

And so my friends,

If my heart there will

Never be a doubt.

Shalom, shalom, shalom.

It took many years to know you.

Shalom, shalom, shalom.

I’ll remember you all my days.

Whatever I do,

And wherever I go,

You’ll always be deep inside.

Should we meet again

While on the street,

I will not run

And I will