are featured on The Arty Semite today. The first piece, "Blue Vitriol," is dedicated to Rabbi Manny Viñas, leader of a Spanish-speaking congregation who has been involved in the rediscovery of Conversos--people of Spanish descent with Jewish ancestors who were forcefully converted to Christianity. The piece opens with a phrase reminiscent of the Torah scribe's blessing before beginning work on a scroll.The second poem, "The Influence of Peers," is a light-hearted, funny piece about a child's undesirable vocabulary, and it creates an ironic juxtaposition of the child's tornado-like handling of words and the poet-mother's treatment of language as fragile, all-powerful matter. The last poem hearkens back to the poet's Bronx childhood, the lives of Jewish and Italian communities, and the personal, literary, and mystical encounters within them.
from Forward: The Arty Semite: Three Kangaroo Poems From Judith Baumel
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