{"id":35035,"date":"2020-06-26T03:52:08","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T10:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=35035"},"modified":"2020-06-24T11:28:45","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T18:28:45","slug":"poet-writes-of-world-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2020\/06\/26\/poet-writes-of-world-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Poet writes of world events"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lillian Boraks-Nemetz has a new poetry compilation, called Out of the Dark<\/em>, which will be released by Ronsdale Press in the fall.\u00a0<\/strong>(photo from Lillian Boraks-Nemetz)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The death in late May of George Floyd, while he was pinned down on the ground by a Minneapolis police officer, has sparked continuing protests throughout the United States and the world. The tragic incident struck a nerve with Vancouver author and poet Lillian Boraks-Nemetz, and she composed \u201cThe Arm,\u201d a poem about racism, in Floyd\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n

The poem begins: \u201cToday I am George Floyd \/ I am a Jew \/ so I know how it feels \/ To be stifled \/ By the arm of hate \/ That extends toward anyone \/ Who is different in colour \/ Culture or creed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore he died, George Floyd said, \u2018I can\u2019t breathe.\u2019 When I think of the enormity of the Holocaust and its implications in my life, I can hardly breathe,\u201d Boraks-Nemetz, a Shoah survivor, told the Independent<\/em> in a recent interview from her home in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were moments during the Holocaust when fear froze my throat and I couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d she said. \u201cThe first time, I stood at the Nazi checkpoint dividing the Warsaw Ghetto from the rest of the world, I had to let go of my father\u2019s hand and walk alone through the checkpoint, hoping the German guard holding a rifle won\u2019t shoot me. The second time I couldn\u2019t breathe was when I found out that my little sister was murdered by a policeman during the war only because she was a Jew. Like poor George Floyd, my sister didn\u2019t survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what she hopes people who read the poem will take from it, she replied: \u201cThere are people in our community who do not identify with the anti-racism goings on. I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She explained, \u201cThey talk about the black injustice, the indigenous injustice. I am talking about the Jewish injustice and the rise of antisemitism around the world. It seems as if this topic has been completely omitted from all conversations on racism by both Jews and non-Jews. These incidents, like the killing of George Floyd, touch every survivor of trauma one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arm\u201d ends: \u201cAs the world burns \/ From loss, guilt and disgust \/ May the good people of this Earth \/ Rise and open their arms \/ Far and wide to release \/ Love, kindness and justice for all \/ Because today each one of us \/ Is George Floyd.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poem comes ahead of the release of Boraks-Nemetz\u2019s new poetry compilation, Out of the Dark<\/em>, which will be released by Ronsdale Press in the fall.<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>The 100-page collection offers a cycle of poems in three parts about the poet, who has had to live with the memories of the Holocaust all her life. The first section describes the evils of suffering and prejudice, of war and destruction, and the loss of loved ones, even the loss of self.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a ghetto \/ where humans live in neglected cages \/ within a fire that burns sleep out of their eyes,\u201d one verse proclaims.<\/p>\n

The second section offers \u201cflickers of light\u201d in locating paths to a more fulfilling life, once the poet understands, \u201cWe must always seek \/ new ways \/ of reaching one another \/ though each of us \/ is a world unto itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third section pays homage to the creative minds who preceded us and who have bequeathed us their gifts. And it explores the ability to live and love: \u201cI run toward you \/ carrying the glow of marigolds \/ lighting your path to my love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boraks-Nemetz is well-known in British Columbian and Canadian literary circles. In 2017, she published Mouth of Truth<\/em>, a novel that also addressed the power of speaking up for justice. In it, the protagonist must confront secrets from her family\u2019s past in Warsaw during the Holocaust, issues of guilt and discrimination, and verbal, psychological and physical abuse.<\/p>\n

Canadian poet John Robert Colombo called Mouth of Truth<\/em> \u201ca work of great insight and fine delicacy about the human condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous works by Boraks-Nemetz \u2013 The Old Brown Suitcase<\/em>, The Sunflower Diaries<\/em>, The Lenski File<\/em> and Tapestry of Hope<\/em> \u2013 have garnered Canadian and international awards, as well as praise in literary publications.<\/p>\n

Outside her literary endeavours, Boraks-Nemetz is a campaigner for Holocaust education. She speaks frequently at local schools and at international events about the Shoah and is deeply involved with the Janusz Korczak Association of Canada.<\/p>\n

To read \u201cThe Arm\u201d in its entirety, visit Boraks-Nemetz\u2019s website, lillianboraks-nemetz.com\/2020\/06\/04\/the-arm\/#more-647<\/a>. To pre-order her upcoming book of poetry, visit ronsdalepress.com\/all-books\/out-of-the-dark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sam Margolis<\/strong> has written for the <\/em>Globe and Mail, the <\/em>National Post, UPI and MSNBC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lillian Boraks-Nemetz has a new poetry compilation, called Out of the Dark, which will be released by Ronsdale Press in the fall.\u00a0(photo from Lillian Boraks-Nemetz) The death in late May of George Floyd, while he was pinned down on the ground by a Minneapolis police officer, has sparked continuing protests throughout the United States and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[7326,9941,53,1794,387],"class_list":["post-35035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-anti-racism","tag-george-floyd","tag-holocaust","tag-lillian-boraks-nemetz","tag-poetry"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}