by Lillian Farzan-Kashani (Santa Monica, CA)
Here I am
Watering the memories
Of reunions & separations
Love and grief
And surely all in between
While some have been able to exhale
Following October 8th
I fear it’s a facade
Tension lives here, still.
Some hostages freed, but horror flashes through me yet
On this walk, momentarily
I’m soothed by the sight of a pomegranate
Bursting with life above me
A living reminder of sacred potential. Multitudes of good.
And dare I say, of Peace
Soon, again, bewildered
I pass through olive branches
What an ironic symbol to bear
Knowing our neighbors are being terrorized
Amidst their ancient tradition of harvest
How is this OK?
How convenient for the self righteous ones on the hilltops to forget
Perhaps the most important out of the 613 seeds
We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Far from it. They destroy themselves while tormenting others.
Time to overthrow.
Enough of the corrupt. The systemic injustice
Making a fool out of us.
Invest in the people on the ground
Return to tending to one another
Can you recall that far back?
My soul knows it’s true
We weren’t meant to live like this
Instead, we can invest in the land together
Holy, some say fruitful
An abundance, if we treat her right
In harmony
We can share the bounty, collectively contributing
We can come to rely on one another
Share the olives, the pomegranates
My mother had casually mentioned
Children are the fruit of love
And so we ought to protect
Even the smallest of seedlings
A whole universe therein
Writer by day and therapist by night–depending on the time zone–Lillian Farzan-Kashani is a bit of a digital nomad and much of her work as a poet is rooted in being a daughter of Iranian Jewish immigrants. Relatively new to all of this, her recent and forthcoming work can be found in Songs of the Earth by the LA Public Library (2024), Verse Virtual (July and November 2025), and Silver Birch Press (July and August 2025). Read more about her professional and creative pursuits at https://www.lillianfarzan.com/
The Jewish Writing Project 