Journey of the Heart

EDITOR"S NOTE: Over a year ago, when Ayala invited me to write the Foreword for her poetry collection, titled  A Corner in the World: Holocaust Poems for My Father , I never could have imagined the horrific crisis that is unfolding in Israel and the Gaza Strip today. As such, this excerpt from the Foreword becomes especially poignant now:  Ayala's poetry speaks not only to those of Jewish ancestry, but to all others whose histories ache with ancestral genocide, war crimes, systemic racism, evil acts, etc. These bold poems are incredibly validating. They humanize victims and. . .  also set a precedent for the rest of us to start recording our own painful histories, find new ways to extract beauty from tragedy. Inevitably intimated in the pages of this book lies the following question: What do we each need to sacrifice to prevent our species from completely losing its soul?  In her anticipatory poem “It Can Happen Again,” Ayala echoes sobering words by holocaust ...

  Not Anonymous by Ayala Zarfjian I see your drawing on the wall of block 27. An empty baby carriage for your doll. The doll with the light brown hair and hazel eyes. Wearing a mustard yellow dress  with a navy blue collar. What did you name her? Rebecca or Gitty, Shayna or Deborah. I will never know.  I envision you before your life was taken. In a lush garden, singing while you hopscotched as you embraced your doll. A vivacious child with a beautiful name and soft, delicate hands. Your hair swayed when you jumped and ran,  your spirit full of light. You are not anonymous. Your life is remembered. Your drawing displayed as testimony.  Your world ours. Your pencil lines etched in our consciousness.  (This poem originally appeared in A Corner of the World: Holocaust Poems for My Father by Ayala Zarfjian, Golden Dragonfly Press , Second edition, August 2022. To obtain your own copy, click here .)  Ayala Zarfjian  is   an Israeli-born American ...

  Today, we feature an excerpt from Ayala Zarfjian’s poignant and deeply moving new poetry collection,  A Corner in the World: Holocaust Poems for My Father.   Ayala’s words powerfully resound as a beautiful tribute to her ancestors that died as a result of the holocaust, to those that survived, and to all the silenced voices of the persecuted around the world today. Woven into her vivid, yet gentle treatment of the terrors of the holocaust and ancestral trauma, is also a powerful warning that we not let such a horrific past repeat itself, that our species not lose its heart and soul. The following, is a poem she wrote in memory of her aunt, Sally Eckhaus:     Sally   I no longer remember the sound of her laughter. I no longer remember the scent of her perfume. Did she bake challah for the Sabbath? Did her hands form a perfect braid? The wind whispered her name.  Her hair flowed when she walked.  Darkness, illuminated by her smile. She embraced he...

Woman I discovered the crow’s feet nestled by my eyes. I forgave them and accepted them to be mine. I love that they exhibit a piece of my struggle. Days I squinted in delight, dark nights when weeping left me drained and numb. I questioned the veins in my hands, pronounced and deep, then I accepted them for all the hard labor they had done. Hands weathered by love given, days from dawn to dusk, babies they had washed, foreheads caressed. I watched my white strands residing in my dark hair. I accepted them for their resilience and beauty. I challenged my mind to battle the known, and seek the wonder of the unknown. I challenged my soul to rise up and embrace the woman I have become and embrace the life I have been given. (This poem is an excerpt from the author's debut poetry book, Second Chances: Poetry from a Sun-Kissed Life , released May 7th, 2019, and available by clicking here .) Ayala Zarfjian, an Israeli-born American poet, is a mother, grandmother, survivo...