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Horses and other Doubts

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Moshe Benarroch's title for his first book of poems in English, Horses and Other Doubts, seems ironic, because this is a poet with an established international audience, charging headlong into a wide range of subjects, love, war, discrimination, Zionism, and poetry, a poet who writes in "The Poem"

"they {poems} all want to be written/ screaming at me/ convincing me/ asking and begging/ but I have to make the choice/ which ones I write/ which ones to leave."

and maybe "which ones to leave" is the poet's dilemma, the other doubts in his title.

Benarroch's a prolific writer with five books to his credit; in this one he leads with "Horses," the powerful steam-roller he's best known for. He writes:

"horses from all the centuries/ will come/ to crush everything they see..."

and asks:

"Why in my time/ Why in my house/ Why my family and my children/ and nobody will be able to answer..."

There's a memorable line in almost every poem: (he's mastered the poet's toughest problem - all poets pray for just one good line in a poem; more than one is considered a miracle)

In "The Evening Before," he inquires about death - asking: "what is the color of this angel, the shape of the shoes/ does he run, or is death just the moment when the/ angel of life/ tires of us, and goes for another soul..."

In "Zionism" he is resolute: "... you made me/ a master forgetter/ Till I forgot you/ and remembered all this."

Benarroch's a realist too, understanding the artist's angst, especially the poet's; I suspect he, like many other poets, would write twenty-four hours a day, given the chance, yet given the reality all poet's face, he must work at something else to keep the wolf away from the door, so he pines: "There is no job that fits a poet."

Benarroch's accesible, and worth reading; most of his poems chew on the bones of human experience, much of which is raw. Finally, he's refreshingly demanding, much like a prof in a Lit class. In "The Reader" he addresses the "good reader:"

"...his interaction/ creates the/ echo/

that brings/ to the poem/ someone who's/ never read poetry./ He's the best."

Moshe Bennaroch has a unique voice and writes like no one else. He brings to us his truth of many diverse geographies and truly writes as a citizen of the world, and as one who has heart and feeling for populations that transcend borders and ideologies. The title of the book is lovely and quirky -- and like a Zen Koan it intrigues and rather short circuits the reader's left brain, leading him or her into a world where poetry rules, where indeed poetry succeeds in making sense of life, which often gives us a reality of senselessness and chaos. Moshe Bennaroch brings us a poetry of uncanny sensibilities, of insight, of music of the desert, the oasis and the clouds that touch everywhere -- and ultimately he gives us a poetry of peace. May the world have ears.

Maria Jacketti Jacketti_M@spcvxa.spc.edu

"Horses and other doubts" is another great book by multilingual Israeli poet Moshe
Benarroch. But it seems to me that some of the poems, as it happen with great poems,
have changed their meaning since sept. 11. Here are the first two poems from the book:

Horses

~~~~~~



And

they will come running

galloping galloping

gray black blue horses

forgotten horses

horses from all the centuries

will come

to crush everything they see

women men and children

and donkeys and foxes and dogs and cats

Come they will Come

horses and more horses

and nobody will be able to stop them

not atomic bombs

nor gases nor chemicals nor viruses

they will be the strongest horses that ever existed

horses that recall all

the injustices made and to be made

and the man will ask

Why in my time

Why in my house

Why my family and my children

and nobody will be able to answer

the blue horses, the celestial horses

those will be the worst

destroying 200 story buildings

destroying tanks and planes

blowing them apart

and the president will calm

and the specialists will analyze

and the televisions will speak

but nothing will help

more and more horses will come

out of nowhere

horses appearing suddenly

in front of people walking on the streets

and you, in bed, you'll look at me

despaired, waiting for rescue

I will look at you and suddenly

I will become

a red horse.

We Count Our Dead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



When we go to sleep

we count our dead

When we wake up

we count our dead

When we end the century

we count our dead

When we kill

we count our dead

When we live

we count our dead

When we eat

we count our dead

When we pray

we count our dead

When we celebrate life

we count our dead

When we write a poem

we count our dead.

I wouldn't call this prophecy but maybe it's not far from it. It shows how far words can
go, and how the infractsructure of language can carry the future in it. The book goes on
with poems of decaying cities (old cities like Paris) life and immigration, a poem about
a Hamass terrorist and a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, when the poet was a free blocks

away. But Benarroch's poetry is not pessimistic, it is cynical, maybe we can call it
cynical optimism. There is always a grain of hope, in the darkest moments, and a grain
of despair in the brightest ones.
A poet to follow, read and reread.
I think that the poem "Horses" (first printed in Galaxy mag. in 1999) , is bound to
become a classic as "Ithaca" or "Howl", any day soon. It has been traveling the world
through thousands of emails...

Moshe Benarroch once again comprises a collection of stirring poetry that will haunt long after "Horses and Other Doubts" is put down. In the tradition of his previous book, "The Immigrant's Lament", international author Benarroch takes his readers on a paradoxical view of the world, his world, in a unique mix of powerful emotion that is tightly constrained, a multi-nationional perspective, yet one that holds the reader close to Benarroch's bakcyard, through eyes that have seen it all, but still seek answers.

"We Count Our Dead" is a perfect example of this, for Benarroch speaks of a theme that wants to rip with rage, pathos, and grief, but with skill he keeps these components effectively simmering beneath the poem's surface to pack the most punch with his carefully chosen words.

"Horses and Other Doubts" is a book that compels to be read again and again, with each concept mulled over, each nuance absorbed, and every word savoured, for while the images at times are disturbing ones, the art in which Benarroch handles the written word is all pleasure.

Moshe Benarroch is one of the leading poets in Israel, and has been called by Natan Zach "The best young poet of his generation". A poet who writes in three languages is already a rare event, he writes fluently in both Hebrew, Spanish and English. His poems appear regulary ... in magazines in Israel, Spain and the U.S.

What most strikes about his poetry is a sense of purpose with a clarity only found in a poet like Charles Bukowski, that he so admires. But behind these simple words a complex texture is build line by line, and word by word, making his poems real adventures and discoveries.

Try this book before the others, Benarroch will probably become one of the leading poets in the world in the next ten years.

...here isthe last short poem "Freedom" which closes the book:

Freedom is what starts a poem/ but by the end you're always back in jail.

I think of the power of words when readin the poem "Horses" that opens the book (remember it was published on sept 2000, a year ago!):

Horses


~~~~~~





And


they will come running


galloping galloping


gray black blue horses


forgotten horses


horses from all the centuries


will come


to crush everything they see


women men and children


and donkeys and foxes and dogs and cats


Come they will Come


horses and more horses


and nobody will be able to stop them


not atomic bombs


nor gases nor chemicals nor viruses


they will be the strongest horses that ever existed


horses that recall all


the injustices made and to be made


and the man will ask


Why in my time


Why in my house


Why my family and my children


and nobody will be able to answer


the blue horses, the celestial horses


those will be the worst


destroying 200 story buildings


destroying tanks and planes


blowing them apart


and the president will calm


and the specialists will analyze





and the televisions will speak


but nothing will help


more and more horses will come


out of nowhere


horses appearing suddenly


in front of people walking on the streets


and you, in bed, you'll look at me


despaired, waiting for rescue


I will look at you and suddenly


I will become


a red horse.

The second poem "We count our dead" seems to be also related to the WTC tragedy and the rest of the poems are as strong as poetry is these days. See also my other review of his other book "You walk on the land..."

And to the anonymous reviewer below who says this is more prose than poetry, it's what they said about most of the great poets of the last two centuries. Benarroch's poetry may not be 'poetic' but it hits hard and deep.

Oh dear.

I realize he has an international reputation, but this is still second generation, second-rate Beat poetry. One can hear the bongo drums playing when reading it. I am sorry but writing "deep" lines of prose chopped up into lines on the page is NOT poetry...it is still just hackneyed prose chopped up into lines on a page. There is no music here, just an attempt to be hipper than thou.