War Poems

These poems originate from a heart full of love for both nature and human beings, what a wonderful human she is herself.
-Dr. Helen Caldicott
During the first hundred days of Israel’s assault on Gaza after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Mimi German posted a poem a day. These daily meditations express tenderness, balance, and empathy for all who suffer and for the impermanent beauties of (even) blood-soaked moments.
-K. Kendall, Ph.D., retired professor of Theatre and English.

This book is however a deep look into a heart full of love and sorrow. It is raw and it is brave.
-Malcolm Chaddock, Veterans For Peace, Oregon
The War Poems is a priceless meditation on the effect of war, even on those far from battle. The poems encourage us to consider not just the suffering of war, but the cost to our souls.
-Pastor Steven Kimes

Mimi German has the literary skills and political experience to address these urgent and complicated times. Her war poems—really, peace poems—are humane.
-Eliot Katz, Poet and author of The Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg

This book of war poems by Mimi German is powerful and punchy – carries weight and authority, not only because the poet herself is a Jew, but also because of her deep compassion and empathy with the victims and survivors of war.
-Margaret O’Regan, Irish Activist Poet

Mimi German

As a Jew living in the diaspora, a Jew who knows the scent and taste of Israel, a Jew who speaks the language of Israel, a Jew who loves The Land, I have lost my direction home. Each morning, upon awakening, I have tried to stare down the horror of the Government of Israel's latest retaliatory response - actions it has been waiting to execute for a very long time. By writing these poems for each of the first 100 days of the war, I bear witness. Not to one side or the other, but to All who suffer from this war. Sometimes, this is the only response to such atrocities. Divisions create the groundwork for war. I am indivisible. I am a poet, writing. Writing with the hope of peace and unity and an immediate end to war in Israel and Gaza.So what is to become of this war after the first 100 days? Nothing certain. Only a few nods to an end of the carnage. No lasting good will. No good will at all. War does not bring with it good will. Perhaps all this war will bring is another poem or another 100 poems.

Hebrew translator for War Poems- Hagay Hacohen writes about art, theater, opera and literature for various publications, among them The Jerusalem Post and The Tel Aviv Review of Books.

Jenna Fliesen
Arabic Translator of War Poems- Tunisian American poet and translator, is the author of the poetry collection; Beginnings, which captures her experiences as a first-generation American.

Mimi German is a poet and subversive artist dividing her time between living in the wilderness of Oregon's Steens Mt. and the urban strife of Portland, OR. Her first book of poetry, Beneath the Gravel Weight of Stars, was released in 2022 weaving her experiences as an advocate for unhoused Portlanders through poetry.Born a wanderer, Mimi left Philadelphia for NY in '82 for college. It was in NYC during the Reagan Administration that her first of a few non-violent disobedient arrests occurred. After college she joined the peace movement, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), in Israel arriving just before the first Palestinian uprising. After returning to the US, Mimi split time between Cambridge, MA, and Halifax, Nova Scotia eaking together money through nude modeling and as a musician busking on the streets of Halifax and Cambridge.In 1995, Mimi hit the road to head west to Oregon where she still resides. In 1997, Mimi was arrested again, this time on Shoshone land in Nevada with the late Chief Corbin Harney protesting against a proposed uranium dumpsite.In 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Mimi started an international group called RadCast which documented citizen radiation readings post-Fukushima, from around the globe. She was often asked to speak about the reality of radioactive toxicity around the globe on national and international talk shows. She was a frequent guest on Michael J. Ruppert's show, The Lifeboat Hour, and had a special weekly spot for radiation readings on the Thom Hartman Program as well as daily radiation readings on KBOO radio news. After many years, it was evident that we as a society would never be rid of nuclear power, so Mimi chose to act locally instead by doing direct support for unhoused people in Portland, OR. She is still doing that work today. As an advocate for unhoused people in Portland, Mimi has spent years regularly testifying or shutting down Portland City Council meetings in order to bring attention to the needs of the most disenfranchised group of people who were dying in droves on the streets from neglect, inclement weather, mental illness, and addiction. Mimi is co-teaching an ongoing poetry workshop with unhoused poets at the offices of Street Roots, a newspaper written by and created for the Portland unhoused community.In 2020, Mimi, along with her partner, purchased land in Southeastern Oregon in the foothills of Steens Mountain Wilderness and the Pueblo Mt Range. It was here that she completed her manuscript for Where Grasses Bend, Mimi's second book of poetry that began at the start of the pandemic through 2023. These poems are about longing, loss, humanity, and the regeneration of Love as it presents itself to Mimi in the wilderness of Oregon. In the summer of 2021, Mimi and her partner adopted Claude, a blue dog who is featured on the cover of Mimi's new book. It was also in her high desert home that she discovered Ursula Le Guin's book, Out Here: Poems and Images from Steens Mountain Country, a book she keeps on display for visitors. Mimi had met Le Guin numerous times at the food co-op in which they were both members in Portland. Le Guin's spirit lives on in these canyons as one of the many ghost voices that you can hear in the songs of the star dance.Mimi's poetry has been published in the New Generation Beats Anthology 2022 and in the National Beat Poetry Foundation's, Remembering Jack Kerouac On His 100th Birthday. Mimi was honored in 2023 by the National Beat Poetry Foundation in 2023 as Stae of Oregon Beat Poet Laureate. Her poems have also been published in the UK in International Times (IT), Steel JackDaw Magazine, and in the US, Sublunary Review, The Hopper Magazine, The Mantle, Three Line Poetry (Vols. 51/52), New Verse News and was a finalist in The Poetry Box and The Hopper for best chapbook manuscript. Her poems can also be found in the testimony files of Portland City Council sessions between 2017-2020.

Arabic Translator of War Poems- Tunisian American poet and translator, is the author of the poetry collection; Beginnings, which captures her experiences as a first-generation American. After living in New York City, Jenna has now relocated to Spokane, Washington. In addition to her own work, she has taken on the role of translating to ensure that art can be shared without linguistic barriers. This translation work reflects her deep commitment to promoting peace and understanding across cultures.

Hebrew translator for War Poems- Hagay Hacohen writes about art, theater, opera and literature for various publications, among them The Jerusalem Post and The Tel Aviv Review of Books. His previous translation, Striptease by Slawomir Mrazek, was produced for a special event held at Tel Aviv University in honor of International Theater Day.