Poems — Sandler Poetry

Here are a few of Michael’s poems (click on the Journal name for a link):

Krypton (Jewish Literary Journal)

Velikiye Luki (Euphony Journal)

When Heifetz Played for One (Valparaiso Poetry Review)

Speaking Cursive (Cumberland River Review)

Recipe for Marinara (Vita Poetica)

Proverbs 27:1 (River Heron Review)

Papaya

I could barely stand
the smell, though my mother claimed
it evoked an exotic far-away.
I’d sniff again, but the Janus-faced fruit
would scowl its blotchy ripeness
into a failed state,
before being sliced to a smile
for her lips—
                       in a way it’s how I chat
with my neighbor, pleasantries
of lawns and weather, a thanks
for taking out the garbage bins
during my travel—
only to hold my tongue
when trash collection prompts
his monologue on government,
his hunger for someone to ravage
all bounds—
                      the shock
of orange strands cradling black seed;
hermaphrodite, according to
my catalog, papa stamens
and yaya pistils—as if straddling
a chasm between one’s perceived
essence and what a better self
would resist—
                        though it seems I’ve softened,
or maybe exposure has diluted
the fetid in its pulp revealing
a latent taste like a need—
I even enjoy one now and then
in its place, an ocean view, but well-chilled
with lots of cauterizing lemon
to mitigate
                        blemish/mold/rot.

Published in Third Wednesday, Fall 2018