On December 4th, 2023, six weeks after the murderous Hamas attack on southern Israel of October 7th, with nearly 140 people still held hostage in Gaza and Israelis still struggling with the trauma of the tragedy, we held a second mini-workshop via Zoom to help our members work through their feelings. Twenty people attended.
Iris Dan introduced us to the work of Grace Shulman, a wonderful poet whom many of us had never heard of, using a selected five poems that focused on reactions to tragedies such as war, disease, or the death of a loved one: “broken things.” Some recorded her emotions, some moved towards acceptance or even optimism.
Iris suggested three possible themes for the exercise:
- “There is nothing so whole as a broken heart”
- Your vision of a memorial for the Nova music festival (where 260 people were killed) or for one of the destroyed communities.
- Description of October 7th from the point of view of a tree or animal.
Once again, attendees greatly appreciated the chance to come together and express their feelings. As usual, we’ll produce a PDF chapbook of poems written or started during the workshop.
Below are a few screenshots to give a feel of the Zoom event.
Presenter Iris Dan Esther Lipton, reading Donna Bechar
Participants:
Voices Israel Group of Poets in English 