With My Poems, I Finally Won Even

My Grandmother Was Very Important To Me. She Gave Me My Religious Education. She Gave Me A Sense Of The Female Side Of Judaism, Of The Rich Store Of Stories And Legends Of The Women Of The Schtetl.

I Did Not Always Know I Would Be A Writer. Until I Had A Room Of My Own, I Did Not Write Much At All - No More Than Any Other Child Who Read A Lot Of Books. I Began To Write Fiction And Poetry When I First Had A Room That Was Truly My Own With A Door That Shut And Some Measure, However Fragile, Of Privacy.

Remember That Every Son Had A Mother Whose Beloved Son He Was, And Every Woman Had A Mother Whose Beloved Son She Wasn't.

The Incidence Of Violent Brand-loyalty To One's Own Current Dogma Has Risen.

Learning To Love Differently Is Hard, Love With The Hands Wide Open, Love With The Doors Banging On Their Hinges, The Cupboard Unlocked, The Windroaring And Whimpering In The Rooms.