Rose Drachler

Jerome Rosenberg did a posting with some of
Rose Drachler's poetry. He listed some
"biographical notes" from her, and they are
fascinating:

"I am truly a non-person. I have been mistaken
for the janitor’s wife, a nurse for dogs, an
aunt, a good witch, a poet, a distinguished
(dead) actress, a mother. I suffer from the
spiteful machinations of my grand piano. I am
compelled to continue a needlepoint rug the size
of a ballroom by the lust of the eye of the needle
for friction with wool. Strangers tell me the most
intimate story of their lives and drunken Ukrainians
propose marriage to me on the subway on Friday
afternoons. I am old and ugly. I was born old
but interested. Water loves me. I have been married
to it for more than half a century. I know the
language of fish and birds. Also squirrels and toads.
I am a convert to Orthodox Jewry, also I have tried
riding a broomstick. I had a vision of the double
Shekhina on Amsterdam Avenue and 110th Street. I
have taught cooking and sewing to beautiful
Cantonese girls and the affectionate daughters of
Mafiosi. I am married to an irascible but loving
artist. A nay-sayer. My parents drove each other
crazy. Me too. Which turned me to books and poetry
and I thank them for it."

Rose Drachler

Posted over on Poems & Poetics