Judith Baumel
@judithbaumel.bsky.social
Poet. Bronx-born life-long fan of the Mets and all things Italian
Here is the first service at the Tempio Maggiore after the liberation of Rome
October 16, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Here is the first service at the Tempio Maggiore after the liberation of Rome
Thanks to the editors of #GashmiusMagazine for their powerful drash. “May this year be a year of transformation, both within ourselves and in the world.
May all peoples be written in the Book of Life.
May we ‘choose Life’ together.”
May all peoples be written in the Book of Life.
May we ‘choose Life’ together.”
September 9, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Thanks to the editors of #GashmiusMagazine for their powerful drash. “May this year be a year of transformation, both within ourselves and in the world.
May all peoples be written in the Book of Life.
May we ‘choose Life’ together.”
May all peoples be written in the Book of Life.
May we ‘choose Life’ together.”
This poem by Adam Zagajewski is getting me through the day. It’s the start of Elul and I don’t know how to start Repentance
August 25, 2025 at 9:27 PM
This poem by Adam Zagajewski is getting me through the day. It’s the start of Elul and I don’t know how to start Repentance
Look what came in the mail on this hot and humid day! Congratulations Askold Melnyczuk on your New and Selected. I have been waiting a long time for these poems and I can't wait to dive into The Venus of Odesa. @arrowsmithpress.bsky.social
July 16, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Look what came in the mail on this hot and humid day! Congratulations Askold Melnyczuk on your New and Selected. I have been waiting a long time for these poems and I can't wait to dive into The Venus of Odesa. @arrowsmithpress.bsky.social
Indian Rhubarb (Umbrella Plant), a transplant from California & Oregon. The days have been uncharacteristic of Scottish spring. Temps on Wednesday neared 25C (75F) -- the hottest day of the year. “It’s a phenomenon” says Gillian, the Head Housekeeper here. Here is “Rhubarb” a poem by Matthew Burns
May 2, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Indian Rhubarb (Umbrella Plant), a transplant from California & Oregon. The days have been uncharacteristic of Scottish spring. Temps on Wednesday neared 25C (75F) -- the hottest day of the year. “It’s a phenomenon” says Gillian, the Head Housekeeper here. Here is “Rhubarb” a poem by Matthew Burns
Good Morning & Happy May Day! Here’s a Maypole poem from Robert Herrick, a member of the “Sons of Ben.” And here’s the view from my bed in the (Ben) Jonson room. Back in the day, kids from PS 97 joined other schools in The Bronx on the campus of Fordham to dance around their Maypole.
May 1, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Good Morning & Happy May Day! Here’s a Maypole poem from Robert Herrick, a member of the “Sons of Ben.” And here’s the view from my bed in the (Ben) Jonson room. Back in the day, kids from PS 97 joined other schools in The Bronx on the campus of Fordham to dance around their Maypole.
Primroses in Scotland (though not Scottish Primrose). The primrose path means the easy way to hell. (Who knew? Well, I didn’t.) Shakespeare invents the phrase when Ophelia tells Laertes to practice what he preaches.
April 29, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Primroses in Scotland (though not Scottish Primrose). The primrose path means the easy way to hell. (Who knew? Well, I didn’t.) Shakespeare invents the phrase when Ophelia tells Laertes to practice what he preaches.
Inspired at @hawthorndenfoundation where Ruth Fainlight wrote The Yellow Plate. I sleep in the Jonson Room where she slept. Here the door & here the plate:
“(yellow I’m always drawn to:
the saffron robe of a mendicant
or the silk curtains a friend bought in Burma—
mine now, because she’s dead),
“(yellow I’m always drawn to:
the saffron robe of a mendicant
or the silk curtains a friend bought in Burma—
mine now, because she’s dead),
April 28, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Inspired at @hawthorndenfoundation where Ruth Fainlight wrote The Yellow Plate. I sleep in the Jonson Room where she slept. Here the door & here the plate:
“(yellow I’m always drawn to:
the saffron robe of a mendicant
or the silk curtains a friend bought in Burma—
mine now, because she’s dead),
“(yellow I’m always drawn to:
the saffron robe of a mendicant
or the silk curtains a friend bought in Burma—
mine now, because she’s dead),
On my way from rainy NYC to Edinburgh where I expect some rain on and off. Hoping I can return to my news diet & stay off the junk media, the New York Times above all. Anyone have Mediaholics Anonymous tips?
April 26, 2025 at 10:50 PM
On my way from rainy NYC to Edinburgh where I expect some rain on and off. Hoping I can return to my news diet & stay off the junk media, the New York Times above all. Anyone have Mediaholics Anonymous tips?
Bronx Bulbs. Some creature (human, rodent?) snapped this flower overnight. It’s doing ok indoors with a Dutch Golden Age vibe. Record and report everything. That’s what Jane Hirshfield reminds us. In “Let Them Not Say.” Let them not say: we did not see it./ we saw.
April 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Bronx Bulbs. Some creature (human, rodent?) snapped this flower overnight. It’s doing ok indoors with a Dutch Golden Age vibe. Record and report everything. That’s what Jane Hirshfield reminds us. In “Let Them Not Say.” Let them not say: we did not see it./ we saw.
"aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."
April 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
"aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."
Bronx Bulbs. Tulips opened around noon today. Muriel Rukeyser’s 1968 “Poem” is still right on.
“I lived in the first century of world wars.
Most mornings I would be more or less insane,
The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories,
The news would pour out of various devices …”
“I lived in the first century of world wars.
Most mornings I would be more or less insane,
The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories,
The news would pour out of various devices …”
April 18, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Bronx Bulbs. Tulips opened around noon today. Muriel Rukeyser’s 1968 “Poem” is still right on.
“I lived in the first century of world wars.
Most mornings I would be more or less insane,
The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories,
The news would pour out of various devices …”
“I lived in the first century of world wars.
Most mornings I would be more or less insane,
The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories,
The news would pour out of various devices …”
The lemon-orange in this new daffodil is sweet & bittersweet. The Italian for lemons & oranges -all citrus- is “agrumi” from agro or pungent, bitter, acrid, sour. Naomi Shahib Nye’s poem “That Mysterious Word Holy” starts from a place of bitterness that so many of us know.
April 8, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The lemon-orange in this new daffodil is sweet & bittersweet. The Italian for lemons & oranges -all citrus- is “agrumi” from agro or pungent, bitter, acrid, sour. Naomi Shahib Nye’s poem “That Mysterious Word Holy” starts from a place of bitterness that so many of us know.
Phil’s former student Emily got us into a Friends & Family pre-opening of the Frick where she is an educator. What a treat to go through the terrific renovation with such a lively, knowledgeable guide. Here are just a few scenes from a happy visit.
April 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Phil’s former student Emily got us into a Friends & Family pre-opening of the Frick where she is an educator. What a treat to go through the terrific renovation with such a lively, knowledgeable guide. Here are just a few scenes from a happy visit.
Bronx Bulbs: Rain on & off all day. #HandsOff on all day. Fifth Avenue from 42nd to 22nd New Yorkers filled 5th Ave. Mahmoud Darwish once vowed “I will slog over this road.” The tulip buds broke through today.
April 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Bronx Bulbs: Rain on & off all day. #HandsOff on all day. Fifth Avenue from 42nd to 22nd New Yorkers filled 5th Ave. Mahmoud Darwish once vowed “I will slog over this road.” The tulip buds broke through today.
Bronx Bulbs. There was rain. The air warmed. The blooms shrugged off their downward nods. The sun set. The sun rose. The daffodils stiffened their necks, made ready for resistance, for reading May Swenson's "A City Garden in April"
April 4, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Bronx Bulbs. There was rain. The air warmed. The blooms shrugged off their downward nods. The sun set. The sun rose. The daffodils stiffened their necks, made ready for resistance, for reading May Swenson's "A City Garden in April"
Bronx Bulbs. Squirrel-snatched. Uprooted-ruin. Thinking of Mark Jarman poem. “Lord of the returning leaves, of sleepers
Waking in their tunnels among roots,
Of heart and bush and fire-headed stag,
Of all things branching, stirring the blook like sap,
Pray for us in your small commemorations.”
Waking in their tunnels among roots,
Of heart and bush and fire-headed stag,
Of all things branching, stirring the blook like sap,
Pray for us in your small commemorations.”
April 3, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Bronx Bulbs. Squirrel-snatched. Uprooted-ruin. Thinking of Mark Jarman poem. “Lord of the returning leaves, of sleepers
Waking in their tunnels among roots,
Of heart and bush and fire-headed stag,
Of all things branching, stirring the blook like sap,
Pray for us in your small commemorations.”
Waking in their tunnels among roots,
Of heart and bush and fire-headed stag,
Of all things branching, stirring the blook like sap,
Pray for us in your small commemorations.”
Bronx Spring Bulbs’ Progress:
Athena lent a hand, making him seem
Taller … with crisping hair
In curls like petals of wild hyacinth.//
Just so she lavished
Beauty over Odysseus’ head & shoulders.
Then he went down to sit on the sea beach
In his new splendor.
The Odyssey 6.229-238, Fitzgerald, trans.
Athena lent a hand, making him seem
Taller … with crisping hair
In curls like petals of wild hyacinth.//
Just so she lavished
Beauty over Odysseus’ head & shoulders.
Then he went down to sit on the sea beach
In his new splendor.
The Odyssey 6.229-238, Fitzgerald, trans.
April 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Bronx Spring Bulbs’ Progress:
Athena lent a hand, making him seem
Taller … with crisping hair
In curls like petals of wild hyacinth.//
Just so she lavished
Beauty over Odysseus’ head & shoulders.
Then he went down to sit on the sea beach
In his new splendor.
The Odyssey 6.229-238, Fitzgerald, trans.
Athena lent a hand, making him seem
Taller … with crisping hair
In curls like petals of wild hyacinth.//
Just so she lavished
Beauty over Odysseus’ head & shoulders.
Then he went down to sit on the sea beach
In his new splendor.
The Odyssey 6.229-238, Fitzgerald, trans.
Bronx Spring. This fall, I planted 3x more bulbs than usual. You never know how many will emerge. This painful winter required patience & forced hope. Hope is elusive. I’m now studying the little leaves & buds every day. Maybe they can make meaning for me.
April 1, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Bronx Spring. This fall, I planted 3x more bulbs than usual. You never know how many will emerge. This painful winter required patience & forced hope. Hope is elusive. I’m now studying the little leaves & buds every day. Maybe they can make meaning for me.
To Harvard Alumni.
First Columbia, then...
Please read & sign below w. your OK & preferred form of name & alumni identification (e.g. " '70" or "MD '02") form.jotform.com/250795937135...
Publicity will include only the letter w. the list of those IDs, not your email.
First Columbia, then...
Please read & sign below w. your OK & preferred form of name & alumni identification (e.g. " '70" or "MD '02") form.jotform.com/250795937135...
Publicity will include only the letter w. the list of those IDs, not your email.
March 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
To Harvard Alumni.
First Columbia, then...
Please read & sign below w. your OK & preferred form of name & alumni identification (e.g. " '70" or "MD '02") form.jotform.com/250795937135...
Publicity will include only the letter w. the list of those IDs, not your email.
First Columbia, then...
Please read & sign below w. your OK & preferred form of name & alumni identification (e.g. " '70" or "MD '02") form.jotform.com/250795937135...
Publicity will include only the letter w. the list of those IDs, not your email.
Betar’s lies about poet, educator and activist @mosababutoha.bsky.social are disgusting. We need to keep Mosab safe. @jvp.bsky.social @jfrejnyc.bsky.social @stacyparkerlemelle.bsky.social @arrowsmithpress.bsky.social @peterbeinart.bsky.social @jewishcurrents.bsky.social
March 13, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Betar’s lies about poet, educator and activist @mosababutoha.bsky.social are disgusting. We need to keep Mosab safe. @jvp.bsky.social @jfrejnyc.bsky.social @stacyparkerlemelle.bsky.social @arrowsmithpress.bsky.social @peterbeinart.bsky.social @jewishcurrents.bsky.social
We lived happily during the war by @ilyakaminsky.bsky.social is as pertinent and cutting as ever.
March 11, 2025 at 10:19 PM
We lived happily during the war by @ilyakaminsky.bsky.social is as pertinent and cutting as ever.
Cousins at a 2 y birthday party. Thanks to my wonderful children, my grandchildren are so connected and fill my heart.
March 3, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Cousins at a 2 y birthday party. Thanks to my wonderful children, my grandchildren are so connected and fill my heart.