Robin Cohen - Three Poems

Power of Resilience

Amid abandoned railroad tracks,
Concrete ubiquity, and iron kingdom,
Wild weeds grow tall and erect
On New York’s High Line.

Standing proudly as warriors,
This green battalion fights its gray foe,
Portending its army’s endurance, longevity,
And ultimate underdog triumph
Over city’s suppressive tendencies.

When the industrial empire falls,
And NYC relegated an urban legend,
Nature will reign freely,
Covering Times Square,
Occupying Wall Street,
Starring on Broadway,
With the tallest tree titled king.

Suppressed, yet invigorated,
Leaf beats rock, paper, steel,
In an eventual victory.



Five Ways of Looking at an Apple

I

The worm sets up residence in the apple-
the core is its bedroom
and the seeds are its pillows.
Rudely awakened
and torn up at first bite,
the worm is an eternal transient.

II

The apple is a careless fruit-
constantly falling from the tree,
but redeeming itself
in never straying too far.

III

Antithesis of the navel-
apples and oranges-
never compared.
Why?
Fruit's greatest mystery.
But juicy rumors abound.

IV

A likely fruit to grow old,
the apple is nothing special-
yet somehow Eve's downfall-
only her temptation.

V

Team Red
Team Yellow
Team Green
Every apple lover picks a side,
but the Fruit Bowl Commissioner
never names a champion.
Religion-
Politics-
The Apple-
Sources of unresolved debate.



Eye’m Sorry

Eyes-
You take in the world for me.
Without you I could not see
The sunrise, dusk, and sunset,
Moon, stars, and pitch-black sky.
Day in and day out,
You film every movement around me-
You are the surveillance camera of my life.

Moist from soaking in the world,
You are blue like an ocean
And white like snow.
Your address is
The vantage point of my life.

I am sorry to say
That I rarely see you,
My faithful servants-
You toiling twosome,
Forever at my beck and call,
Forever working night and day-
But your labor is not forgotten.

No offense is intended
When I put on glasses.
I do not mean to say you are not enough.



Robin Cohen grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School. She studies computer science at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College. She writes poetry and takes photographs in her spare time.