Honest Recall By S.A. Gerber

The question often arises: 

“What did you see in drink?” 

I gazed upon a  

clear, calm surface 

inviting total 

immersion. 

 

THEN— 

I saw all nations hugging in peace. 

A cessation all war and conflict. 

My worst invented enemy as misunderstood. 

No more hatred, racism, greed, organized religion, 

child, animal or spousal abuse. 

 

I heard sounds of rain, happy children, loving 

whispers, fulfilled promise. 

The voices of Billy Holiday, Ronne Gilbert 

singing to me and me alone. 

I heard Bach, Shubert, Mahler, Franck, Rossini 

creating a soundtrack for eternity. 

 

BUT SOMETIMES— 

I saw the cruelty and pettiness of man. 

Never ending wars and threats of war. 

No redemption for our species. 

What humans can descend too. 

The dark, bleak, pointlessness of life. 

 

I heard the groans and cries of hungry people. 

The warped agenda of twisted demagogues. 

People preaching the promises of G-ds in 

spite of hard tongues and hard hearts. 

The sound of our planet gasping a last breath. 

 

Never sure of which side I 

would land on, I jumped each 

day with both eyes opened wide. 

 

Without drink, still can see and hear 

both sides, just one has brightened, and 

and one has dimmed. (Flip a coin). 

 

S. A. Gerber is a native and resident again of Los Angeles, CA. after having spent  twenty-four years in a neighboring “city of sin” in the Silver State of Nevada.  

His work has appeared in such diverse publications as Desert Voices Magazine… Subtopian Magazine…Talking Sidewalks… Mad Swirl, (where he is a “contributing Poet”)… Sediment Literary and Arts Journal… Poetica Magazine… Black Heart Magazine… The Blue Collar Review…Los Angeles Review of Los Angeles… The Linden Avenue Literary Journal…The Poet’s Haven…Stray Light Literary Magazine… Literature in Los Angeles Magazine… Opiate Magazine… Pacific Poetry… Neologism Poetry Journal…The Lyric…Free Venice Beachhead… The Shot Glass Journal…,Dove Tales-“Empathy in Art: Embracing the Other”, Writing for Peace, International Journal of the Arts, and Alien Buddha Press-Holiday Anthology-2020. 

He is also a member of the Los Angeles Poet’s Society, (where his work can be found “Spotlighted” on their website). 

His three (3) volumes of poetry, Under the Radar, Inventory, and Old School Rhyme can all be obtained on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com, as well as Beyond Baroque Bookstore in Venice, Ca. The Amber Unicorn in Las Vegas, NV. The Book Monster in Santa Monica, Ca., The Book Jewel in Westchester, Ca. and  City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, Ca.