Sum [Paperback]

Yonat Hafftka (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0978296125 | ISBN-13: 978-0978296124 | Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Sum's poems are both natural and enigmatic while remaining clearly grounded in the authors experience. Mainly short poems they are linguistic gems that reveal multiple meanings while mysteriously evoking a precise vision.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Some of the poems in this collection bring surrealistic paintings to mind deliberately, I imagine, as the grotesque imaginings seem to represent the current adult world today, as in the poem Out of Burnt Skins, where Hafftka writes:

"I rise out of burnt skins
Not a boy, not a girl,
Into a confused world of
Aching men and wasted women."

And these images are contrasted with Hafftka s other poems which express the yearning for the beauty and simplicity of remembered childhood:

"Let me go
To the womb s cave
Deeper and closer,
Down the steps, the walls
Covered with gardens I wish I owned."

The overlay of melancholy extends to her philosophical poems as well, which concern the reflections of those in their forties who are beginning to assess their lives:

"Mannerism has as strong a hold at forty
As need had in the days of dependency."

The rueful attitude is also apparent in the wise observation that "Advice accentuates lack of sympathy." Her perception combined with a sensitive longing for the ideal gives her poetry substance. (EE)

Eleanor Ehrenkranz received her Ph.D from N.Y.U. and has taught at Stern College, NYU, Mercy College and currently at Pace University. She has lectured on Jewish literature at Limmud, Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, Hebrew Institute of White Plains, Agudath Shalom in Stamford among others. She is working on an anthology of Jewish poetry. --JEWISH BOOK WORLD Summer 5768/2008

About the Author

Yonat Hafftka was born in Israel and raised on Kibbutz Afikim. She immigrated to the US at the age of 22 and has lived in New York City since. Yonat started writing poetry in English shortly after arriving in the US. Sum is her first book, which includes poems written between 1975 and 2007.

Product Details

• Paperback: 66 pages
• Publisher: Six Gallery Press (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978296125
• ISBN-13: 978-0978296124
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,477,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)