David Jackson

No Kiss

I’m sure, she said, you understand,
no kisses tonight
I have this cold, and so much
to do this week
And we have, you and I,
so much time, really now
well,, just a hug, she agreed,
Our heads to the side
Just this
Until
Where are you? she said

Why Me? Shubin asks, wondering why he is still here when so many other loved ones have gone before him. But every reader of this book comes away with the answer: “It’s because we need the insight and wisdom you give us in this beautiful book, Seymour Shubin—and we long for more.”……. Barbara Brett

Ask of Me

I could have asked
so many things
like what was it like
leaving old friends
and an old land
then learning a new language
and even starting a business
and of her my mother
so many questions
I never got around to ask
of her either
and now I wait
for it is my turn
with children
for though from the same country
we don’t always speak,
so to speak,
the same language

A brief autobigraphical statement by Shubin:

I start off by saying I could have asked of my father what it was like leaving old friends and an old land and even starting a new business (here), all of which my father did when leaving the Ukraine (as a young man). And there were many questions I could have asked of my mother, too, who too had come from the Ukraine, and met my father here for the first time. But I found out as a young man that age more than anything else separated.the old from the young. Yes. we don’t always speak the same language.