[ “I will not be invisible,” writes NY poet Elizabeth Zelvin
of her Jewish female identity, “I will not be herded/…I do not
accept your yellow stars.” ]
[[link removed]]

PORTSIDE CULTURE

YELLOW STARS  
[[link removed]]


 

Elizabeth Zelvin

[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ “I will not be invisible,” writes NY poet Elizabeth Zelvin of
her Jewish female identity, “I will not be herded/…I do not accept
your yellow stars.” _

,

 

Yellow Stars

By Elizabeth Zelvin

the Nazis slapped them on us to make sure

that no one could mistake a Jew for human

pile the blame for everything on us

no one protested when they herded us

crushed together in the cattle cars

sneered, _Soon you will be clean enough_

_dirty Jews! into the showers with you_

once the gas had done its work they reaped the harvest

a treasure hoard of gold-filled teeth

piles of children’s shoes and yellow stars

I have never uttered that ugliest of words

the N word, never whispered it, thought it, or wanted to

back then we called the dream _brotherhood_

_the struggle, solidarity_

we were all in it together

young and fervent, we sang _O freedom over me!_

yellow stars had taught us how it feels

to be labeled against our will

I expect hate from redneck survivalists

Christian crackers bombing synagogues

sweet Southern belles politely asking if y’all have horns

but on the left it takes me by surprise

you may dismiss a century of solidarity  

as acts of self-aggrandizing _white saviors_

I call it betrayal, and it breaks my heart

I do not give permission

to be called _privileged white_ or _cis_

you do not know my spiritual path

my sexual practices, my economic struggles

while we’re acknowledging and including

how about my people’s history, ethnicity, and DNA

how about my right to choices? how about me?

I am a Jewish woman

Jewish men don’t represent me

with their well-honed guilt and _teaching moments_

nor do Israel or Palestine

with their glamorized agendas

if you insult a Jew I will speak out

I will not be invisible, I will be seen

I will not be herded, I will be heard

I do not accept your yellow stars

Elizabeth Zelvin is the author of two books of poetry, I Am the
Daughter (1981) and Gifts and

Secrets (1999), and recipient of a CAPS award from the New York State
Council on the Arts.

During the Second Wave of the women’s movement, her work was widely
published in feminist and left journals such as 13th Moon and Home
Planet News. Recent poems have appeared in Yellow Mama as well as in
anthologies of work about COVID and in support of Ukraine. Liz also
writes two series, mystery and Jewish historical fiction.

* Poetry
[[link removed]]
* Jewish identity
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit portside.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 



########################################################################

[link removed]

To unsubscribe from the xxxxxx list, click the following link:
[link removed]