Caterpillar moon

One lonesome night in Africa

Three miles from gloom lagoon

I chanced upon a caterpillar

Smiling in the moon

I gazed at him inquiringly

As time waved from a star

Then asked him for directions

To a place north of afar

Somewhere I’d feel free again

Free to simply be

And not to feel the shame I feel

For seeing what I see

The wise old worm

(who’d been smiling in the moon since nothingness began)

Agreed to guide me with his light

Until I reached my promised land

But first he sent a raven black

To gather my regrets

“they’ll weigh you down”

The worm declared

“best lay them all to rest”

So the raven came and took my burdens

Cast them deep as hate

Into the dreaded gloom lagoon

Three miles from twist of fate

Well I reached my long-lost promised land

Thanks to my neon tear

And when I sense my solitude

My caterpillar moon is near.

About the Author

An artist and writer. Studied art at Ruth Prowse Art School in Cape Town and Anthropology, Linguistics and Hebrew at the University of South Africa. Made Aliya and lived in Israel for 11 years. Trained in mosaic restoration. Lived off-grid in rural South Africa with young kids for 9 years before working on arts and cultural projects in Mauritius, Israel and Fiji. Published numerous short stories about our surreal adventures. Returned to Israel in 2022 and incredibly happy to be home. My mission is to combine my paintings and writing into a collective work which tells the unusual stories and extraordinary situations we survived while maintaining our Jewish identity.