A Peace of Me Irene Emanuel
First published in 2014 by BK Press ISBN 978-1-928245-05-6 Š Irene Emanuel 2014
All characters in this work are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
Dedication
Dedicated to my parents, Henek and Chana and my siblings, Emanuel, Aviva and Alan. So grateful for being born into this family.
Acknowledgements ERICA CLARK for putting the original sections and poem sequence in order, for preventing me from smashing my computer when I was unable to do the inputting myself. Erica, thank you for being my "Sounding-Board" and for keeping me on track. GINNY PORTER for working with me, patiently and for producing an amazing finished collection. Ginny, Thank you for allowing me the freedom to chop and change at will. BRETT BEILES for a most informative and beautifully worded foreword. You have always been there for me and encouraged me from the beginning. BING WRIGHT is gratefully acknowledged for the photograph on the cover. www.bingwright.com
The Cover In order to deal with life's challenges, I protected myself by projecting a smiling image on a glass mirror. I stayed hidden within until the mirror shattered and all the pieces of me are now revealed.
Foreword Peace de Résistance When I became the convenor of Durban’s Live Poets’ Society (LiPS) in 2002, my first task was to find the nomadic group a permanent ‘home’. So I turned to Peter Adams of Adams Books which had a gemütlich coffee shop in its Musgrave Centre branch. ‘When are there ever fifty book lovers in your shop at one time?’ was my pitch to Peter. After intensive publicity we achieved our ‘quorum’ and then some. I tried to greet all newcomers personally, learn their names and put them at ease. One of them was Irene Emanuel. She told me she was unsure about her poetry and wasn’t confident about reading it to the group. ‘Never mind,’ I tried to reassure her. ‘No-one is obliged to read. Just relax, listen and get a feel for what we’re about.’ Irene must have been encouraged by the proceedings, for her confidence grew enormously in the ensuing month. At the next meeting her hand was one of the first to be raised to ‘strut her stuff’ in the Poet Pourri (open mic) session. She read three poems, all very different from each other. Irene is nothing if not eclectic. She is also very prolific. At every meeting she has attended since then she has presented new work – some humorous, some emotive, some lyrical, some angry … Her previous collections together with this one, with its seven distinct sections, bear testament to Irene’s versatility. She has even won a rap contest on Durban’s East Coast Radio. Since then she has become known fondly as The Rappin’ Gran.
More salient awards have also come her way. These include the Hildé Slinger Poetry Trophy – twice – and the Faye Goldie Trophy for Success in Publishing, both presented by the South African Writers’ Circle where she has won several other prizes in its regular competitions. An astute man once said, ‘You can never please all of the people all of the time.’ That being so, the works in this attractively designed volume will either ‘please some of the people some of the time’, ‘all of the people some of the time’ or ‘some of the people all of the time’.
Time to sit back, relax and immerse yourself in Irene Emanuel’s rollercoaster verse. – Brett Beiles
This Is Me‌Irene Emanuel Born: 07-11-1943, in Johannesburg, where I lived until 2002. Then I moved to Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Poetry allows me to get my message across with rhythmic speed and clarity and is the written word that I like best. My passions are music, reading, movies and animals, especially cats. There is no spelling mistake in the title of this collection. My first name, Irene, is the Greek word for Peace and in 1943, the World was in desperate need of an end to World War 2. Thus, I was named for the Peace it was hoped that I would bring.
Quintessential These words are quintessentially poetic, not pathetic, rather prophetic. These words are quintessentially rhymed, severely timed, author signed. These words are quintessentially fruitless, definitely ruthless, ultimately proof less. These words are quintessentially mine, no reason or rhyme, but mine for all time. 20-10-2011
Contents SECTION ONE: GLOBAL ISSUES .............................. 1 Tell the World ........................................................ 2
Fencing with Forgiveness ............................................. 3 Not a Fantasy ............................................................... 4 Food Matters ............................................................... 5 What Future? ............................................................... 6 Message from Masada ................................................. 7 Lament for Haiti ........................................................... 9 Flowerfields .................................................................. 10 A Darker Shade of Grey ................................................ 11 Born to Die ................................................................... 12 Togetherness ................................................................ 13 Xenophobia .................................................................. 15
SECTION TWO: NATURE ........................................16
The Tree ....................................................................... 17 Daybreak ...................................................................... 19 Tread Softly .................................................................. 20 Revelation .................................................................... 21 The Divested Tree ........................................................ 22 Waterway Wonder ....................................................... 23 Tranquility .................................................................... 24 Willows in the Moonlight ............................................. 25 Sonnet to Life ............................................................... 27 One Night on Cradle Mountain---Tasmania ................. 28 The Colour of Rain ........................................................ 29 Sundown ...................................................................... 30
SECTION THREE: ANIMALS ....................................31
Invitation to a Dance .................................................... 32 The Legend of Lily Lane ................................................ 33
Tell the World Let it be known that the Rhinoceros is a magnificent beast; a relic from an age of legends. Let it be known that this does not make them magical but rather makes them precious. Let it be known that their horns are not medicinal but a property that belongs only to the Rhino. Let it be known that horn powder is just powder and does not provide a solution to the ills of man. Let it be known that horn contents do not hold the answers to Mans’ immortality. Let it be known that some people are too stupid and vain to know that their ignorance is wiping out a species. Let it be known that the horn is merely an adornment of one of the most iconic animals in Africa, PLEASE LET IT BE. 23-04-2012