Gene James Gilbert

CONTACT:
Gene James Gilbert
530 15th St.
Unit One
Baraboo, WI 53913
Tel. 608-393-5253
Email. genegilbert@charter.net

BIO:

Gene was born & raised in Chicago in the shadows of the North Side 'EL' train tracks. He has lived in Hollywood & Santa Cruz, CA, as well as Karmiel, Israel. He now resides & writes in Baraboo, Wisconsin. His poems/stories have appeared in MUSED, PASSAGER, & THE BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES.Two of his one-act plays(Lake Effect & Ghost Writer) have been staged & presented respectively at The Village Booksmith(Baraboo), & the CAB Theatre Group(Baraboo).

Poetry

I Watch the Seagulls

I watch the seagulls
descend upon the Ben Lomond dump.
These grey & white hook-beaked
are here for the easy pickings.
No need to hunt & forage the Pacific shore
to satisfy their appetite.

This rainy Saturday morning,
I have backed my VW Dasher
up against the black-bagged mountain of refuse.

A long night of heavy drinking
has convinced me to bag up my poems, my stories.

I pull away from the stinking heap
& watch the squawking sea birds in my rear view mirror
sampling my fresh morsels,
moving on to more tasteful waste.

It is finished, I assure myself,
even as my hand searches the glove box for a pen.

My Grandfather

My grandfather died at Auschwitz. 

He fell from a guard tower.

His pure shepherd dog Max
  whined and howled wildly,
     so confused with the scent
        of familiar blood
mingled with this Winter night’s
  crystalline snow. 

His wet black snout
  seeks some warmth,
     some response,
        but only sniffs
the souring stale stench
  of edelweiss
     in his Master’s gaping red mouth. 

Tonight he hopes to dream
  of being near the hearth
     in his Black Forest home,
        or chasing
the fat long-eared rabbits
  through the golden fields,
     and not here,
        another good dog in Hell.