Hyenas on Joy Street

The unique quality of this book lies in its autobiographical nature for it's as connected to and isolated from the author as water is from air. This collection consists of four plays in verse, seventeen poems and twenty-five images. Discovery of Fire tells the story of Josephine, a street singer, and Max, a girl runaway and their brief rendezvous. Hyenas on Joy Street the play is an overdue conversation between Shachar and his brother, Diran. Poems, such as Isolation, First Wings and...
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The unique quality of this book lies in its autobiographical nature for it's as connected to and isolated from the author as water is from air. This collection consists of four plays in verse, seventeen poems and twenty-five images. Discovery of Fire tells the story of Josephine, a street singer, and Max, a girl runaway and their brief rendezvous. Hyenas on Joy Street the play is an overdue conversation between Shachar and his brother, Diran. Poems, such as Isolation, First Wings and Caring Claudia meditate on love, death and friendship.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since it's only right to say a few words about who I am and how I got to writing this book this is as good a time as any. Poetry came upon me at around 20 years old when I found it leaking out of me. I began doing Open Mics, so nervous that my knees visibly shook and sweat poured generously from my face. Undaunted, I continued sporadically till my mid twenties. Around this time I discovered that my poems were but character expressions. Once I realized this it was relatively easy to make the transition to playwriting.

My first public play, Simultaneous Imagination, was written, and expounded upon, while performing it over the course of a few months. After this production I felt restless and empty and on a whim traveled to Paris, in an attempt to take a break from the work and chaos of New York. In Paris I moved into Serge's painting studio. Upon his request I wrote a play for his space called Discovery of Fire. I didn't know what the hell to write nor did I have as much faith in my work as he did.

One day while hanging around his studio we talked a while in his garden and huge powerful roses danced. This drove me to wander away from studio and into Montparnasse. As I wandered around a particular corner I saw smoke billowing from a car. As I approached I saw that the car was in flames and the idea of fire was first born. Intimidated by the vision and meandering thoughts I walked on and into the Montparnasse cemetery. There, listening to Dark Star, I seemed to sleepwalk to Baudelaire's tomb. His Flowers of Evil' were one of the few books I traveled with. When I got to his tomb I sat down and cried, long and confused. After some time, I returned to the studio where Serge told me about his paintings of firemen and his fascination with fire. That night and for the next week I buried myself in my room and didn't emerge until I had Discovery of Fire. Once completed, I was ready to leave Paris and work on the production of this new and foreign piece.

In 2001, after rocking the play around town in 2000, I resumed writing and felt increasingly anxious about what seemed like a dead end life in New York. To despise work and just live for the weekends is no life. I moved to Berlin, tearing myself away from a mess of a divorce and a tense relationship with my twin, Diran. Berlin was like rain and fruit after drought. I immersed myself in language learning and began writing Isolation, First Wings and Pure Failure. I landed work as an English teacher and it pleased me but I didn't realize what ill stew was being brewed back in New York.

In December 2001 my soul brother, Diran, the man for whom words were superfluous if uncoupled by action, was brutally killed. As can be gleaned in Hyenas on Joy Street, the poems and play, the grief his death caused was cataclysmic. For a long time I was fragile, a smashed pile of blood and fever. Slowly I pieced myself back together with the help of caring friends and students. So, many of my poems stem from this loss yet speak of the will to survive unbearable heartache.

Needless to say survival is the name of the game. More recently I've written The Trilogy, A Miller's Tale, and How Sweet.