Golda Solomon
golda’s sestina ( after Enid Dames’ Lilith’s Sestina)
–2021
Wrong and right for me grey through memory. The men
I knew as a baby, Jerome I called Romeo. Myself
nine years younger than Stanley my brother. There’s power
In being a Jewish son, an older big brother. He stands right
behind my carriage. Wasn’t his job to protect me from danger
That photo has me sitting puppy dog eager in a freshly pressed
white dress, my head tilted. I want to kiss him, press
my baby hand into his, count the little piggies. Men,
even a ten year old boy, can be jealous. There’s danger
just below the family surface. Heir Stanley Sheldon Zack. Myself
golda has no middle name. We sleep in walnut twin beds right
in the same room. Henny Penny tells me he has power
My sky falls as daddy gets sick, dies. Mommy’s power
is a wild cluck hen. She doesn’t take care of me, depressed
distance grows. The Lone Ranger gallups on the radio right
near Stan’s night table, age gap widens, we grow apart. Men
like my brother find validation, release in sports. Myself
in a never fruitful search for acknowledgement. Danger
teases. I develop early. A dirty mirror reflects the danger.
I feel the moist beginnings of girl to woman power
Mom works. Rebellion boils over. I do homework by myself
crush on the Erasmus fencing team. They parry, lunge, press
Errol Flynn like foils in our basement, Captain of these men
my brother. Championship highschoolers flaunt their given right
Girls on the sidelines happy to cheer, hear varsity stories right
there while the boys win city tournaments. I learned the danger
that can occur, erupt when sweat and victory fill men
who delight in the pursuit of giggly females and sexual power
Mommy husband hunted, Stan manned a team. I pressed
on finding the temporary in other neighborhoods by myself
I grow up and realize there’s no danger in my being right
Like other women though I don’t kid myself about power
And unlike some others, I kept pressing my luck with men
Golda Solomon, Poet/Author/Artist/Editor/Professor/Performer/Mom/Mentor, Poet-in-Residence Blue Door Art Center, Facilitator, ArtSpeak,Make W.A.V.E.S.(Writing,Activism,Values,Empowerment,Sharing), Po’Jazz. This 2021 ArtsWestchester grant recipient walks through lifemmore slowly, more powerfully. This elder believes, We Are All Artists! We Are All Writers! We Are All Poets!