Passover Poetry Salon--Part II

Jenny Barber's gorgeous poems--a small selection

I remember when I first read Rigging the Wind by Jennifer Barber more than twenty years ago. I desperately wanted to talk about these poems of the Spanish Inquisition, conversos, prophecy, time, and quiet with someone; instead, I ended up reviewing the book for The Jerusalem Post. I often wish more people would read these amazing poems, so I am featuring several and look forward to asking poet Jenny Barber about them in our salon on 4/28 at 12 EST via Zoom. This is a salon that will feature two outstanding poets who are both interested in time, family, and Jewish history.

I also often reread Jane Miller’s introduction to Rigging the Wind. It is a rare introduction that gets it exactly right, and that helps the reader into the poems. “Using the wind as her chief metaphor, she works with a painter’s affection for color and image to create, with a few brush strokes, landscapes haunted by human suffering. We instantly recognize her world; it is ours. Quiet alarms sound.”

Miller has it exactly right about Jenny Barber’s work.

“In subjects ranging from the expulsion of the Jews in the fifteenth century to intimacies between contemporary lovers, we are made to feel our own needs and terrors expressed, our own cities left behind,” Miller writes. “These poems are transparent, yet everywhere reflect things and people darkly, in emergency.”

That last sentence may be why I keep returning to Barber’s poems right now. Here are four of my favorites from Rigging the Wind. I hope you love them as much as I do.

The first poem starts quietly, as many Barber poems do, moves from present to deep past, and builds up to a last line that can only be described as fire.

This is also a book about reading—and learning—so here is one of those poems. I love, love, love the spareness of this poem, and how the spareness feels full.

In recent weeks, I have had several conversations with Jewish writers who are feeling differently this year about ancient Jewish traditions and rituals.

Those conversations reminded me of the phrase “not marked on my calendar” in the opening of this poem, so I am including it here.

I am ending with one of my all-time favorite Jenny Barber poems, which mentions Jeremiah, one of my all-time favorite prophets.

The last stanza always makes me stop breathing.

“He foresaw the ruin/ we are and have been.” I hope you can see why I return to Rigging the Wind (Kore Press, 2003) again and again. And I hope you will join us on Sunday, April 28th at 12 EST for our Passover Poetry Salon with poets Jennifer Barber and Lau Cesarco Eglin. It’s a chance to hear these poems, talk about them, learn about process, and ask any questions you may have. This issue and the past one have each featured four poems by each poet.

My dream has been to feature work that deserves more readers. Paid subscribers have received a Zoom link as a thank you for your support; if you would like to upgrade, please do so by 11 EST and I will send you a link!

Happy reading and chag sameach to all who celebrate!

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