HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

I once knew a woman
who got away with murder
and when it came time
for her
to meet
her Maker
she simply plead
not guilty
Your Honor
by reason of
Insanity

and off she went
scot free...

Jack H. Markowitz
Philadelphia, Pa
2017

Lost In Traffic

Like Amelia Earhart

She disappeared

From my life

To parts unknown

Lost forever

To the foggy mists

Of dementia…

She was a lifelong

Source of inspiration

And encouragement

Until

Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Took her away from

All that she loved

And from all those

Who loved her back

During our last conversation

She was riding in her car

With her adult daughter

Driving through thick

Old fashioned

New York City

Rush hour gridlock

Never to be heard from again

Ground Control to Amelia

Ground Control to Amelia

Come in Amelia

There is so much more

That I want to say

So much more

That I want to share

To no avail

On the radio

Nothing but static

Fair thee well

Blyth spirit

Bird thou never wert

Amen

Jack H. Markowitz

Philadelphia, Pa

IT IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK

IT IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK

It is an impossible task

To keep a woman happy

Though we men

Do all that we can

To fulfill their every

Need and desire

But no matter

How hard we try

To fill their

Bottomless pits

A man has

Only so much of himself

That he can give

And once he has utterly

Poured himself out

His strength and virility spent

She puts him out to pasture

If he is lucky

Or to a lunatic bin

If he is not

Jack H. Markowitz

Philadelphia, pa

Lonely As A Cloud 
 

I find it odd

that the expression

"Not a cloud in the sky"

Seems to have become
a metaphor
to mean

“no cares ...no worries"
eh mate?

 

But not for me...

The emptiness of a
clear blue sky
only serves
to make me feel
all the more sad.

Instead of nothing

I would prefer to see

a vast marina

and a whole flotilla

of boats and ships

of every sort

with their great

white sheets of sail

filled to bursting

with every seminal gust

of the gallant wind

as they go gliding along

in stark silhouette against

the multitudinous hues

of the celestial canvas

I would prefer to see

massive ice bergs

drifting slowly along

in the sky oceanic

harbingers of the next

impending storm

I much prefer

to feel the sting of

the wind and the rain…

To feel the whiplash

of the unleashed deluge…

To flinch at the crackling snap

of the flashed lightening

and the sudden crash of thunder…

and to gratefully
and joyfully receive
the heavy fat droplets
of the sacred rain
the doubly blessed rain
that is now falling and

splashing
and spilling
with such reckless abandon

against my upturned cheeks… 

But then again…

Maybe that's just me...eh?

 

jack h. markowitz

Philadelphia, Pa. 2016

 

 

It's A Tangle

It's a tangle
a bramble
a briar patch
a thicket
a web
with thorns
lots of thorns

I am tangled up
my horns
caught
trapped
knotted up

I pull and struggle
I paw the ground
I twist
this way and that
to no avail

night is coming
the wolves are howling
I am the prey
they know it
I know it
and now
so do you

Philadelphia, Pa. 2016

The Birth of Israel

November 29, 1947

Millions of Jews the whole world over

Hold their breath

Huddled around their radios

Straining to hear the latest bit of news

Hoping against hope

That the 20th century

The bloodiest of them all

Might still hold the seeds of promise

For a tired people

An ancient people

A wounded people

Fresh from the killing fields of Europe.

The United Nations meets to decide the fate of the Jews!

For or against partition of Palestine and the Yeshuv!

Australia votes yes!

Egypt votes no!

America votes yes!

Jordan votes no!

Canada votes yes!

Syria votes no!

Argentina abstains!

Chile abstains!

United Kingdom abstains!

A million Jewish hearts beat as one!

Then, suddenly, the final vote tally is taken!

Thirty three for, thirteen against, ten abstain!

Like a thunderclap from the heavens!

Partition wins!

There are to be two states!

One Jewish, one Arab!

Hope is reborn!

The Jewish People again have a homeland at last!

After two thousand years of exile!

A Jewish homeland at last!

Hope!

Hope renewed!

Hope restored!

With the simple stroke of a pen

Hope, Hatikvah, again triumphs over despair!

No more need Jewish children

Shake and tremble in their beds

Homeless no more!

Stateless no more!

Powerless no more!

 

Cheering and crying

Dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv!

The world has changed

The tide has shifted!

 

From out of the ashes of Auschwitz

The Jewish Phoenix has arisen!

Resurrection! Redemption!

Shout it from the roof tops of Jerusalem and Haifa!

Shout it from the valleys of Galilee

And the orange groves of Jaffa!

Shout it from the mountaintops of Mt. Sinai and Mt. Hermon!

Am Chai Yisroel!

The Jewish People live!

 

jhmarkowitz

Philadelphia, Pa. 2010

 

I Took A Shower Today

I took a shower today

I felt the need for expiation
For salvation

It was worth a shot

Nothing else that I do

Or have done

Seems to be working 

I have come to believe

That sin

In all of its many

 Manifestations and variations

 Is at the root of all disease

Health is wealth
Sickness is sin 

After the shower

I felt better

Cleaner

As for the expiation of

All of my sins

No

None of that

But as I said before

It was worth a shot

PS -Where is John the Baptist
When you really need him?

Jhmarkowitz

Philadelphia, 2014

 

 

 

Last Call For New Poems

Jack Henry Markowitz releases a collection of ‘new poems’

‘Last Call for New Poems’ is a testament to the diversity of human experience 

PHILADELPHIA – Storytelling is a well-loved tradition that has accompanied human civilization throughout the ages. As a storyteller, Jack Henry Markowitz is familiar with the magic that is inherent to stories. In his book, “Last Call for New Poems,” he narrates a story of life using the mesmerizing medium of poetry.  

“Last Call for New Poems” is a collection of the author’s original poems. It is a cornucopia of pleasures, life lessons, experiences and essential wisdom. It dazzles in the range of subjects that it explores, some poems are personal in nature while others explore more topical and universal subjects but Markowitz’ distinctive literary voice makes each poem immediate and emotionally accessible. The author has once again succeeded in demonstrating the power of poetry to touch the heart, uplift the spirit and even transform lives.  

Personally valuable and universally significant, “Last Call for New Poems” is a testament to the vast and colorful diversity of human experience. Most of all it reveals how human experience can be shared and celebrated together through the powerful medium of poetry.

 

For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to www.Xlibris.com.

 

ONE

One heart
One soul
One world
One love

jhmarkowitz
philadelephia, pa. 2014

The Kool Aid Drinkers & Other Poems

‘The Kool Aid Drinkers and Other Poems’

by Jack Henry Markowitz

This book is a compilation of relatable poetries about life and its intricacies 

PHILADELPHIA – Author Jack Henry Markowitz reveals a collection of his recent poems in “The Kool Aid Drinkers & Other Poems.” This book provides a wide array of poetries that are topical and personal in nature, painting a vivid and relatable picture of life.
 

His works vary from his day to day experiences to simple musings about the intricacies of life. Some chronicles his days as a teenager who tries to fit in into a fast-moving world, bewitched by girls and the allure of love. Others tell about the difficult days when he has to take any job to provide a roof on his head and food in the table. Several of them voice out political leanings and liberating thoughts about society and freedom. A few talks about the beauty of nature and the simple joys it brings to man.
 

Mostly written in free verse, Markowitz’s compilation of poems are insightful and filled with lessons that one can get out of a hard life. His experiences are mirrored in his works – from growing up to overcoming difficult odds. Candid, thought-provoking and often humorous, “The Kool Aid Drinkers & Other Poems” will let readers glimpse the life of an ordinary man who leads an extraordinary life.

For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to www.Xlibris.com.

 

A Family Recipe For Mayhem

first take a pinch of
space-time
then add a spoonful of
gravity
scramble up
two sticks of
the weak force
with half a stick of
the strong force and
pan fry until brown

then chop up
a portion of
the up force while
stirring in
several ounces of
the down force
then add a beaker
of electro-magnetism
and bring to a boil

add to the mix
a jigger of gin

shake well
and pour
then wait patiently
for the party to begin

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, PA. 2014

I Caught A Shark

It was late in October and
I was vacationing
down the Jersey Shore
when I found myself driving
to one of my favorite
fishing spots at the far end
of the Long Port pier

I had gone on impluse
having poorly
planned the day
and I did not have any
bait for my hook
and all of the local
bait and tackle shops
had already closed
for the season

There were
other fishermen
on the pier
already at work
trying their luck
so I thought
I would ask them
to share their bait
with one of their own

No such luck
they said as
they all jealously guarded
their individual stash while
laughing at me for thinking
I could go fishing with no bait

I said that Jesus
would provide me with bait
(after all he had a fondness for
men who fished the seas
or so I have been told)

The day wore on
and I fished with an empty hook
yet not even a nibble
(well what did you expect
mocked my fellow
fishermen apostles)
when suddenly
the Chinese man
next to me
pulled up a
baby sand shark
(not much of a catch
to men who
were intent on catching
a more edible fish)
Throw him back
they warned
before he takes a finger

I had a better idea
Why not cut up the
shark for bait
and we could all share
the spoils
a suggestion that was
quickly approved by the others
and I was given the honor
of doing the deed
for us all

I picked up my
trusty gutting knife and
turned the shark
belly side up
ready to
slice him open
when
like Abraham
something bigger than me
stayed my hand

As I craddled the shark's
perfectly evolved body
I could sense
his life force
even through my
wet frozen fingers
and I could feel
his perfectly toned muscles
as he wriggled and struggled
to save his own life

My fellow fishermen apostles
incredulously watched as
I suddenly
tossed the squirming
baby shark
back into the sea
where he swam away
with renewed vigor

Why'd you do that
the others asked
You're the one
who wanted him for bait

I just shrugged
my shoulders
too embarrassed to say
that I was still able
to feel the shark's
beating heart
even through
the frost bitten
numbness of my
cold dead hands

jhmarkowitz
Philadelhia, Pa. 2013

My Still Achy Breaky Heart

"Happy, happy birthday, baby
Although you're with somebody new
Thought I'd drop a line to say
That I wish this happy day
Would find me beside you"-
Popular song lyrics

Yes, my heart
is still breaking
(yes even after
all these years)
still again  today
for all of my lost loves
(although more for some
than for others)
but all of them
still near and dear
to my easily seduced and
easily cuckolded
achy breaky heart

Sometimes I cannot help
but to cry
over all of the spilled milk
of bygone kisses
and caresses
the perfumed remembrances
of falling nylons and
unzippered dresses
of passionate love making sessions
in all sort of sordid locations
and then forcing myself
to go to confession
early the next morning
(at least to the man
in the mirror
if to no one else)

Looking back
I seem to have
an unbriddled knack for
creating havoc
and wreckage
in most
(if not all)
of my romantic escapades
(winner take all
erotic contests of
will and ego and
briused emotions and feelings)

Perhaps it is because
I have never properly learned
how to drive down
the super expressway of life
(always looking for
the nearest exits and the
shortest of short cuts)

Going that fast
it is easy to miss
the turn off
like the one up ahead
that reads

Peace and Serenity
Next exit...

jhmarkwitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

Dispassionate Shades Of Blue

Blue blue
dispassionate shades of blue
singing lonely folk songs
in my white socks and
smelly feet

Feeling blue
need to be blue
singing lonely folk songs
in my white socks and
smelly feet

And the gull's cry
is a lonely cry
as I walk along
the water's edge
singing lonely folk songs
in my white socks and
smelly feet

"It's hip to be miserable
when you're young
and intellectual
in a fit
you'll admit
you're a misfit!"

Personally
I am giving very serious thought
to growing either a van dyke
or a very pointy goatee...

Yo Mon...
please don't bogie that dube!

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

It Was Bound To Happen

It was bound to happen
every time the
powers that be
mess with the
space time continuum
bodies get splayed out
and turn up
scattered everywhere
at the shopping mall
at LAX
another elementary school here
another high school there
home invasions
no known motives
no goods taken
but innocent blood shed
nonetheless
senselessly
for no apparent reason
cars wrapping themselves
around trees
overturned tractor trailers
spilling their cargoes
ten thousand pounds of
tomatoes spilled across the
expressway
tying up traffic for
hours on end
people sleep deprived and
on edge
on medications
of all sorts

Daylight Savings Time
they call it
Spring forward
Fall backwards
and then hit the deck
as our bleary eyed neighbors
nerves frayed to the breaking point
reaching for pistols
knives and shotguns
turning on their own
spouses
children
the old folks at home
the good people
next door and
down the lane
and very often on
themselves

Messing with
the Space Time Continuum
makes people nervous
gets everything out of whack
best to roll over in bed and
hit the snooze alarm
maybe this time
maybe next time
it won't feel so bad

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

What Am I Ever Going To Do In Paris

I want to revisit
gay Paris
where I spent
my misspent youth
studying at
the Sorbonne and
sundry faculties of
the University of Paris
Oriental Languages
Political Science
Phonetics
French
Historty
Art
Cinema
Falling in love

I want to be
twenty one again
I want to fall asleep
and wake up with
a full head of hair
a disease free and
pain free body
a youthful libido
money in my pocket

Not to mention
hours on end wandering
the hallowed halls of
The Louvre
Boulevard St. Michelle
Montparnasse
Rue Moufftarde
Notre Dame Cathedral
Garden de Luxembourg
Champs Elysee
Place du Lion
General LeClerc
Ile de la Cite
shopping all day
at Bon Marche and
Le Printemps
riding the Metro
Gare du Lyon
Orly
Charles de Gaulle
Boulevard Peripherique
Quartier Latin

I would like to again taste
Crepe Suzette
Sandwich Jambon
munch on a
creamy Camembert and
freshly baked baguette
sip some wine
smoke Gitanes
sip cognac
sit for hours
at sidewalk cafes
reading
Baudlaire
Mauriac
Verlaine
Camus
Sartre
Moliere
Shakespeare
Le Figaro
Le Monde
Le Canard Enchaine
Cahiers de Cinema

I would like to
chase the ghosts of
lovers long lost
along the quays of
Le Seine
watching the
bateau mouche
float serenely beneath
Le Pont Neuf
to once again enjoy
the view from the top of
the Eiffel Tower

I want to once again
spend hours
haunting the old
movie theatres
in the old banlieus
watching
Godard
Renais
Belmondo
Jean Seberg
Catherine Deneuve
Depardieu
Jacques Tati
Jerry Lewis
Belle de Jour
A Nous La Liberte
A Bout de Souffle

Should the good fortune
ever again befall me
what ever am I
going to do in Paris?

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

What Is Poetry?

Poetry is the way
our species
collectively
learns how
to howl
at the moon

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

The Spider Web Entanglements Of The Human Heart

More's the pity
this spiteful
vengeful and jealous
heart of mine
cutting through the thicket
breaking off the overgrown vines
to reveal a veritable
jungle of
buried regrets
love affair hangovers
more regrets
vats of bitterness
distilled by time
into a vinegrette
of emotional spices and
chopped up lies

I do wish that
I had been a better person
charging down the
white water rapids
of my life
but at that
breakneck speed
of descent
toward the inevitalbe
fate of the
oncoming falls
I did a lot of
collateral damage that
I sincerely regret

But there are no
do overs in life
only left overs

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

Point Blank

They're shooting
each other
here in Philadelphia
at the rate of
two or three or four per day
most of the guns
are illegally bought and sold
and traded
on the back streets
of every major city
in America

We are told that
there are
some 300 million guns
in private hands
one for every
man, woman and child
in the USA

And they are shooting
each other
almost every night
at point blank range
in the head
in the neck
in the back
in the face
in the groin
all the livelong day

Drugs and gangs
mental illness
poverty and despair
suicidal acting out
some wishing to die
at the hands of the police
(protect and serve)
or at the hands of
a drug king rival
contract hits
killings to silence witnesses
revenge shootings
domestic violence
you name it
we have them all

And given the fact that
Congress cannot
seem to muster the courage to
pass new gun control laws
(thanks in large part
to the incessant lobbying
of the NRA)
the national murder rate
continues to climb
and no one in America
is safe from
gun violence

So can I interest you
in a handy-dandy
saturday night special?
(for your own
self protection
of course)

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013

Enola Gay

Look up
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
cherry blossoms of
hot ash fall
burning the skin and
blinding the eye

We all saw
the flash
that left
human shadows
imprinted
on the wall
and that was all
that was left of
family and friends

High above the city
the Enola Gay flies
like a moth drawn
to the flame

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2013