War Poems: Israel-Gaza: The First 100 Days of Carnage

by Mimi German

Overview

As a Jew living in the diaspora, a Jew who knows the scent and taste of Israel, a Jew who speaks the language of Israel, a Jew who loves The Land, I have lost my direction home. Each morning, upon awakening, I have tried to stare down the horror of the Government of Israel's latest retaliatory response - actions it has been waiting to execute for a very long time.

By writing these poems for each of the first 100 days of the war, I bear witness. Not to one side or the other, but to All who suffer from this war. Sometimes, this is the only response to such atrocities. Divisions create the groundwork for war. I am indivisible. I am a poet, writing. Writing with the hope of peace and unity and an immediate end to war in Israel and Gaza.

So what is to become of this war after the first 100 days? Nothing certain. Only a few nods to an end of the carnage. No lasting good will. No good will at all. War does not bring with it good will. Perhaps all this war will bring is another poem or another 100 poems.

And yet the calls for peace, the calls to cease, have accelerated. These calls are coming from the streets of Israel, from Israelis shouting down their oppressive Far-Right government, and even from the families of those who were killed or taken captive on October 7^th. The plea for humanity rings the bells around the globe, from church steeples, to Gaza, to synagogues to mosques!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798989876440
Publisher:	Eyepublishewe
Publication date:	03/29/2024
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

Mimi German is a poet and subversive artist dividing her time between living in the wilderness of Oregon's Steens Mt. and the urban strife of Portland, OR. Born a wanderer, Mimi left Philadelphia for NY in '82 for college. It was in NYC during the Reagan Administration that her first of a few non-violent disobedient arrests occurred. After college, she joined the peace movement, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), in Israel just before the first Palestinian uprising. Once back in the US, Mimi eaked together money through nude modeling and by street busking in Halifax and Cambridge. In 1995, Mimi headed west to Oregon where she still resides. In 1997, Mimi was arrested again, this time on Shoshone land in Nevada with the late Chief Corbin Harney protesting against a proposed uranium dumpsite.In 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disater, Mimi started an international group called RadCast which documented citizen radiation readings post-Fukushima, from around the globe. As an advocate for unhoused people in Portland, Mimi has spent years regularly testifying or shutting down Portland City Council meetings bringing attention to the needs of the most disenfranchised group of people who were dying on the streets from neglect, inclement weather, mental illness, and addiction. In 2020, Mimi, with her partner, purchased land in Southeastern Oregon in the foothills of Steens Mountain Wilderness. Here she completed her manuscript for Where Grasses Bend, Mimi's second book of poetry that began at the start of the pandemic. It was also in her high desert home that she discovered Ursula Le Guin's book, Out Here: Poems and Images from Steens Mountain Country, a book she keeps on display for visitors. Mimi had met Le Guin numerous times at the food co-op in which they were both members in Portland. Le Guin's spirit lives on in these canyons as one of the many ghost voices that you can hear in the songs of the Star Dance. Mimi's poetry is published internationally. In 2023, Mimi was honored with the title of State of Oregon Beat Poet Laureate.