Shards of (personal) history and other poems
Yoram Eckstein
Reviewed by Michelle Boucher-Ladd
After reading Yoram Eckstein’s collection of poems entitled, Shards of
(personal) history and other poems the reader can not help but feel a
great deal of tenderness toward the poet. Yoram Eckstein is a very
interesting poet. He is described as a Jew born in Poland just before
the start of World War II. His family was exiled to the Soviet Union
during the war and after which he returned to Poland and then later
moved to Israel where he attended the Hebrew University. Yoram Eckstein
is a scientist by trade and currently teaches Geology at Kent State
University. His poems are deeply personal and are more haunting then
poetic. They seem photographic in their ability to freeze a moment in
history.
Particularly moving are his poems entitled Return to Poland, Poland
1956, and Poland 2000 for they describe the pain of war throughout a
lifetime and the passing on of a wounded generation. The poem Polen ist
Judenrein illustrates the fate of Eckstein’s people.
Polen ist Judenrein
Towns and cities with Jewish streets
Empty remnants of Synagogues
With walls reverberating voices
Of people that are long gone
Towns and villages of Poland
That hosted Jews for ages
Stand wondering and asking
Whom now to blame for the poor harvest
Polen ist Judenrein
The only victory the Germans may claim
The country I wanted to call mine
The country I wanted to love
The country of the most beautiful music
Heroic poetry, full of valiant knights
And good kings revered by the nation
Shielding the Europe against the Mongol hordes
The country of peaceful meadows
Between deep forests and towering mountains
The Country of ancient towns
Surrounded by golden fields of wheat
I seldom visit that beloved country of mine
Fearing not to step over unmarked graves
Where nearly every square inch of soil
Has been soaked in blood of my kin.
Yoram Eckstein’s poetry is more of a testimony of survival, of faith,
and of humanity than it is of poetic form. This is not poetry for the
sake of being poetic. It is important to read his words as an offering,
to get a bearing on the ageless progression of war, to contemplate
peace, and that is what makes Yoram Eckstein’s words poetry.