Ezekiel's Wheels

Shirley Kaufman

Shirley Kaufman utilizes enigmatic symbolism from the Book of Ezekiel as she writes into the themes of exile and emigration that have marked her work since she left the United States for Israel thirty-six years ago. Her new poems attempt to bring meaning to the unrelenting passage of human life, the risks of artistic endeavors, and her own struggle with the loss of sight and memory. Through four decades of writing and publishing, Kaufman maintained a lightness of touch even while her poetry took on an increased awareness of danger and urgency.

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ISBN: 9781556593079

Format: Paperback

Metamorphosis

               Death is the shape of being that is left behind. —Ovid

The shape we give it
tight lips of unbearable pain
laments of loss

or merciful laughter
our prints in the sand
the sea washed over

we never see the little
dead cells
we wipe from our skin

our minds won’t know
who we wanted to be
or even who we became.

About the Author

A prize-winning American-Israeli, Shirley Kaufman was born in Seattle, Washington, and lived in San Francisco until 1973, when she immigrated to Jerusalem. Eight volumes of her poetry have been published in the United States, including Roots in the Air: New & Selected Poems (1996), Threshold (2003), and Ezekiel’s Wheels (2009), all from Copper Canyon Press. Her Selected Poems, translated into Hebrew by Aharon Shabtai, with Dan Pagis and Dan Miron, was published by the Bialik Institute in Jerusalem in 1995. …

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Reviews

“Like Redon [the book’s cover’s artist], expressing the terrors of fever-ridden dreams a century or more ago, Kaufman explores the internal feelings of her physical and mental decline with startling and brave honesty. Like Redon, Kaufman is representing the ghosts of her own mind.” —Rattle

“Progressive, passionate, and unfailingly feminist, Kaufman is a breathtakingly fine poet.” —The Nation

“Kaufman approaches Jerusalem’s bitter memories, contested histories and joyous unfoldings with a wary love.” —Publishers Weekly