Mavin Hershorn wrote his first poem when he was 6 years old:
Snow is white
Grass is green
Winter comes
In Between
After he retired from teaching humanities and political science for over 35 years at Montreal’s Dawson College and Concordia University, Marvin began to devote more of his time to his art.
Here are several of his poems. Powerful, emotional.
The first, on the subject of “true friendship.”
________________________
On Friendship: Poem For Linda
By Marvin Hershorn
Friendship begins with meeting someone along
The pathway of life
Someone you get to know, and gradually get to know
Even better, someone you get to love…deeply
You discover what a joy it is to spend your moments
With this person, you appreciate her wisdom and strength
It’s wonderful the way the good feelings always remain
The happiness lasts, and the memories you share
Start to turn into some of your favorite treasures
Friendship is two paths converging on the way
To the same beautiful view
Friendship is walking life’s pathway together
Friendship is opening up to one another…hearts, minds, and souls
Sharing thoughts, feelings and emotions…and secrets
In a way that never felt comfortable before
It is complete trust, sweetened with a lot more…
Transparent understanding and communication
More than most people will ever know
Friendship is two hearts that share and trust
Where you are able to say things no outsider ever could
Friendship is an inner door that only Linda had the key
A dear friend has the insight to an emotion that is addressed
Friendship is a gift continually giving joy and happiness
It is strong, supportive, compassionate, loyal and reinforcing
Are always felt without judgement but with compassion
Few things in the entire world will ever compare with the joy
That comes from its compassionate and empathetic bond
We take delight from them because we embrace their presence
Their laughter, their glance, the teachings of people like them,
People who keep us on an ethical compass, straight and narrow
People who live their compassionate traditions and ethical values
Understanding that “indifference is the incubator of injustice”
We worry that without them,
We lose our connection to all that is lovely and beautiful
True friendship evolves as we share our sweetest memories
When the silence and solitude between two people
Is comfortable as two paths converge on a mutual trajectory…forever and ever
March 28, 2017
This Poem is dedicated to our dear friend Linda who recently lost her battle to breast cancer
(Previously published in the Century Village Reporter Prose & Poetry section.)
A Walk in the Woods
By
Marvin Hershorn
I love to lose myself in the powerful woods edifying nature
As thoughts seek shelter in the debris of imperishable facades
To discover my life’s reason embracing deeply evocative mindscapes
Scenes and places as leaves acquire a tapestry of their own
I breathe deeply the rejuvenating pinecone air…I’m alive!
A myriad of colours without pastel shades totally unplugged
The remnant oranges and reds of autumn overwhelm the heart
A tapestry of flame painted by the orange and reds of green maples
The leaves were falling as if they expired …too soon, too soon
To a great departure while never diminishing my joy
Revealing haunting secrets, undying dreams echoing silently
Where man’s civilization is flooded in tears behind the walls
Cowering in the darkness of confrontations of little religions
Obscurantist, Intense, vivid, memorable and beautifully realized
Slowly navigating life’s thickets while held captive in the moonlight
Watching leaves curl and dry on moist soil returning to silence
Stopping to crush fallen leaves in our hands meandering snakelike
Picking bark off the tattered birch trees
Creating legions of modern rudderless untouchables…heirs of the past
Where truths stand nude like Michael Angelo’s iconic texture
Glancing wistfully at the rich and multi-layered chameleon- canopies
Meandering without destination, slowing down, captivated, enthralled
In pathless trails returning to the silence of cutting landscapes
Where the sky is blue and the sun passes gently over your body
Bathing in nature’s glorious octaves with new overtures being born
Sometimes fighting for breath with delicacy and power
Enveloped by an embracing sky slowly treading water
The forests waves come at you from multi destinations
Smells, texture, taste and sight immersing all your senses
Embraced by the therapeutic scent of cedar trees
Finding calm and stillness, we maintain our balance
And continue moving clutching the nearest good unhampered
Citrus flavours of black walnuts, lilac lavender smell
Heady, sweet to spicy to intense aromas permeating your soul
Attractive and sweet smelling heaven on a spring day
Sweet without being cloying, fruity but not citrusy
Fresh and clean, sweet and innocent…embracing Eden
Without walking on broken eggshells praying with every breath unceasing
Better than artificial flowery soap smells pure minimalism
The lilac leaves are shaped like Mother’s Day hearts
The earth’s laughs in flowers crafting a lovely floral note
The ball shaped blossoms move in serendipitous wind dances
As we immerse in a natural environment closing our eyes
Breathing slowly, clearing life’s clutter out of our head
Living our professional tree hugger status
With flora silently cascading to the earth
We draw nature’s dividends bathing in its ritual magic
Meditation retreat reality…peaceful, worry free
Embracing love within its core, glowing with compassion
Nature bathing in the natural world, a stress reduction strategy
Seeing earth for the first time, the cornucopia of colours
The autumnal episode when carotenoid pigments
Overtake the green leaves turning them into a rainbow coalition
Of red, orange, yellow amber into a pure color wash
In the canopy of trees…the pigmentation change… a tool for survival
The green glow looks greener…for the first time
In forest mists falling from caressing skies…reborn
We immerse ourselves in “Forest Bathing” aching with sympathy
A genre of artistry that never wavers… paintballing serendipitously
Far from the Madding crowd, boosting immunity
Encoding the landscapes, unveiling tall sky’s
Avoiding the despair of the dysfunctional world
I search for the peace of watching herons feed
God sometimes delivers a blow that blind sides us
It’s time to maintain our balance and move forward
Heartbeat through heartbeat abundant in humanity
Untethered from our devices, email, text messaging, Facebook
Far from our competitive model society immersed in our forest walk
Seeing the wind kissed swaying of trees, the flutter of birds
The ripple of emerald rivers, with the vacuum of your eyes
Perhaps for the first time, never feeling forced to turn back
Beyond whose iron curtain evolves a world crescendo
July 23, 2017
(Previously published in the Century Village Reporter Prose & Poetry section.)
————————-
Reunion
Welcome to the never ending high-school reunion
Who is fat? Who is hot? Who is single?
Who is divorced or widowed?
Welcome to old friends and surreptitious lovers
Will she diss me or kiss me?
Will my level of success be devastating to everyone I hated?
Shall I flaunt my trophy wife, my money, my profession, my fame?
I realize that there is no measure of success that I may leverage
That will impress the nametags I can’t recognize?
Because measures of accomplishment are personal
Who really cares about success? The popular clique does…I guess
When hanging out with people that you consciously avoided
People that you removed from most of your life
Hey man, I didn’t like you then, are you still a shmuck?
Let’s catch up! Let’s hang. It’s been a long time
You know, I can read your life on line
In reality, it’s more awkward than cathartic
Let’s expose ourselves to people we never wanted to see
Why can’t we fantasize that we all look the same
Let’s exhume our high-school hood and all play the game
Let’s be kind and not cruel, smile that Cheshire cat smile
Everyone looks great, that’s the rule
Let’s unmend old times, overvalue childhood dreams
Every stage of our secret life is the same
We all grow old playing the capitalist game
Hey, let’s get your e-mail, let’s keep in touch
Hey, are you on Facebook, Twitter, 0r Linked In?
How about My Space?
Wanna be friends? Do you have a chat window?
At night’s end, I must confess
That I stand at the altar of loneliness.
May 29, 2012
________________________
Read more of Hershorn’s poetry.