Not so long ago, standing with you
in front of remnants of ancient Babylonian gates.
Having just left hallowed grounds of more recent destructions.
Looking back in time.
Where are they now!
Those destroyers of Temples and Jews.
 
Today, once again, standing with you.
 
Celebrating in our Temple with generations you helped renew.
Wishing Happy 90th Birthday to you!
 
Today, once again, standing with you.
 

©Samuel A Simon, 2018 All Rights Reserved
​Written for Rabbi Laszlo Berkowits on the occasion of his 90th Birthday
​February 9, 2018   

The Stench in the Air
The Screams in the Night
The Young Boy Shot in Front of You
"Too Small Bring Me Another!"
 
The Loves of Your Life
Gone in The Morning
You are Next
Or Not
 
A Knock on the Door!
 
The Orchestra Plays and Never Stops
 
The Song is not Your Song
There are Sounds in Shape of Words
No Beauty nor Dignity Here
Nothing Elegant, Nothing Clear
 
There are Notes to be Written
Documents to Be Saved
The Time is Now
​A Knock on the Door!
 
Stories Must be Told
Not By You and Not By Me
By Fragments of the Day
Stored in Tins and Cans
Buried in Rubble and Sand
 
We Who Read Them Now
Those Fragments Written Long Ago
Do not Hear the Sound
Do Not know the Pain
 
We Remember and Want to Know
We Want to Once Again Become Whole
But this is The Dance That Never Ends
 
Just Notes to Be Read, Documents to Be Restored
Stories to be Retold
 

(c) 2017 The Actual Dance LLC and Samuel A Simon  Inspired by the documents in the Ringelblum Archives on display at the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland.  On display are documents recovered after World War II that had been created and then buried by a group of people come to be known as the Oneg Shabbat Project. 

​© 2017 Samuel A Simon  All Rights Reserved
​With Appreciation to Simon Fitzmaurice for writing It's Not Dark Yet

 
Birds
Floating like leaves
Falling from trees
Settling on lawns
Looking for seeds
 
Leaves
Falling from trees
Floating like birds
Settling on lawns
Turning to seeds
 
Seeds
Turning to trees
Flowering leaves
Housing birds
Looking for seeds
 
​

8/23/1966

Life exists within each of us as a form of the Divine.

A tangible essence of who we are.

Love is when our essence became entwined.

Each an equal half of the other.

"I love you" simply awakens the US in you and me.


From Sam to Susan

© August 23, 2012 Samuel A Simon, The Actual Dance
All rights reserved

 
I remember you!

Curly black hair and big braces on your teeth!

Too shy to say hello!
Then

Your first lover and my first and only love!

I remember us!
Then

Mother, wife, and partner!
Now

The other half of my whole

Happy Birthday You Seventy Year Old!

An empty ballroom.  The silence deafening.
The musicians assemble one by one
First the strings, then the woodwinds.
Even a piccolo. And clarinet add to the mix.
The foreboding sounds of an orchestra practicing.
My soul trembles.

Our partnership sealed in an intimate waltz.
Your touch.  Your reassuring face.  Your breath.
Only you know what no one else can.
Our union intricately woven in a dance so
Exquisite, tender and affirming.
The doctors say you are okay. 
I know differently.

You are so stoic. A rock throughout.
The tears trickle down my face.
A variation in a dance turned somber.
Losses relived throughout the years.
Nothing compares to this.
Never give up. Even now against all hope.
Together still.

An opening inside my heart transforms my fear
Even this dance can be beautiful.
Two spirits never really part.
The music is now my strength.
We dance again. 

*Deb Artz was a member of the audience on September 4th, 2014 at the Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara California.