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Tali Cohen Shabtai: Steve (poem)




STEVE



You dragged me with your van all the way

To meet your Catolic father (in the suburb)

Who was kind to my strawberry earrings?

In the name of Jesus' offspring

You put your signature on

My rental of twelve floors

Building

On 42 East Division.

You chose to be a sponsor for my needs

This covered all gestures

You could ever expect from godfather

You bought me a complete furniture set

From your all but empty pocket

You brought me your small TV

And a blanket

And your card to the international library

You longed to become old with me-you couldn't

Tasted a

Little and swallowed so much from

My Chaos.

You took me to the hospital in the south

Several times

To check others' sins

In my body

You bought me Diet Coke and

The Chicago Tribune

While you waited with me for the

Doctor

And a black couple sniffed cocaine

Next to us

You couldn't struggle with my unhappiness

I left you with two months rent

And a note on my door from

A lesbian neighbor I barely met

And a drawing glued to the wall of my studio

By homeless

Who painted me-at night I shared

Another skin.

I left my book of poems in the glove

Compartment of your car

And, I have gone my friend. To the same unhappiness.

However, this one is already

Recognizable




* Tali Cohen Shabtai, is a poet, born in Jerusalem, Israel. She began writing poetry at the age of six, she had been an excellent student of literature. She began her writings by publishing her impressions in the school’s newspaper. FIrst of all she published her poetry in the prestigious literary magazine of Israel Moznayim when she was fifteen years old. She has written three poetry books: Purple Diluted in a Black’s Thick, (bilingual 2007), Protest (bilingual 2012) and Nine Years Away From You (2018).

Her poems express spiritual and physical exile. She is studying her exile and freedom paradox, her cosmopolitan vision is very obvious in her writings. She lived some years in Oslo Norway and in the U.S.A. She is a very prominent as a poet with a special lyric, she doesn’t give herself easily, but subject to her own rules.

She studied at the David Yellin College of Education for a bachelor's degree. She is a member of the Hebrew Writers Association and the Israeli Writers Association in the state of Israel. In 2014, Cohen Shabtai also participated in a Norwegian documentary about poets' lives called The Last Bohemian - Den Siste Bohemien, and screened in the cinema in Scandinavia. By 2020, her fourth book of poetry will be published which will also be published in Norway. Her literary works have been translated into many languages as well.




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