Songs of Love and Misgivings

A full collection of lyrical, personal poetry. The following review crystallizes its essence: "These poems about more deceptive, addictive side of love are certainly rife with misgivings. The narrator of these poems “looked for love/in the skirts of a loveless city.” She found warmth and erotic touch, but also betrayal and loneliness. These are often hard to untangle, as the poems show. The author has written earlier about feminism and religion, Jewish mysticism, and women in Judaism, and some references to these themes appear in her poems; these allusions (as in “Envy,” “Homeland,” and “In the Heart of the City”) give the poetry more depth and extend its meaning beyond one person’s story. Many of these poems have a kind of radiance, despite their sadness. At times, the narrator’s own story can seem, as she says, one “in which I play/the main character/in a B-movie/that even Hollywood/rejected…” ... Some lines have a genuine musical feeling, like the opening of “Before Night Comes,” or the image of “velvety hands” in a poem (somewhat ironically) titled “tenderness.” Clearly, writing these poems about the disappointing journey of looking for love and finding cruelty on “unworldly roads” is an important step for this poet. One wishes that her journey would take her further into the generous realms of love, where the power of rainbow colours is neither a mirage nor a lamentation. (Ellen S. Jaffe, Poet, Author & Teacher)