Rat Radar
The rats know
what we don’t know
by a radar of their own
they see through walls
and into our bravado
and concceits
knowing the future isn’t ours
and the meaning
of the trash we leave
as food for thought
they wait for the Rapture
to inherit the earth.
Artwork © Ira Joel Haber
Audrey Hepburn Attacked by Cat
Cats can sense a snowy egret
in the weeds
as if its beauty were a threat
to everything they know
of the grace of grass and marsh.
They admire at first
following the arch of its neck
its gentle yellow feet
the whiteness of its plumes
wind-blown against an azure sky.
They wait in the awed silence
that only cats can hear
but their instinct is attack
in an unbalanced world
where elegance is no match
against the wild and crude.
Jesus with Shopping Bags
6:00 am.
Black Friday.
Jesus about to rise
at the door of Walmarts
waiting to buy
a 72” Panasonic
LCD LED
flat screen plasma TV
He imagines
Heaven in a box
He walks on water
cures the lame
pushes the others aside
to move to the head
of the line
to His last supper—
50% off
limited warranty
with no returns.
Neil Ellman, a poet from New Jersey, has published more than 1,000 poems, many of which are written in response to works of modern and contemporary art, in print and online journals, anthologies and chapbooks throughout the world. The three poems featured here are a reply to the graffiti art of British artist Banksy.
Ira Joel Haber was born and lives in Brooklyn. He is a sculptor, painter, book dealer, photographer and teacher. His work has been seen in numerous group shows both in USA and Europe and he has had 9 one man shows including several retrospectives of his sculpture. His work is in the collections of The Whitney Museum Of American Art, New York University, The Guggenheim Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum and The Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Since 2007 His paintings, drawings, photographs and collages have been published in over 160 on line and print magazines. He has received three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Pollock-Krasner grants, the Adolph Gottlieb Foundation grant and, in 2010, he received a grant from Artists’ Fellowship Inc. He currently teaches art to retired public school teachers at The United Federation of Teachers program in Brooklyn.
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