Books and Endorsements
Prologue
On October 7, 2023, I was devastated by the news that Hamas had attacked Israel, killed over
one thousand people, and had taken hundreds hostage. My thoughts drifted very quickly to how
devastating the revenge would be by the State of Israel in Gaza. 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
not only to stare down the horror of what Hamas did, but also the devastation of Israel’s
retaliatory response - actions it has been waiting to execute for a very long time from this
government.
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 a desire for an immediate end to war in Israel and Gaza.
-Mimi German
In War Poems, Mimi German’s compassion and heartbreak shine clearly through the carnage. A
Jew who refuses the easy out of taking sides, she stands with her hands and her heart open to
Arab and Jew alike—to all who are human, and to their suffering. She finds both beauty and
horror in the first 100 days of a reality we would all rather ignore, and in so doing, she helps us
to not look away.
-Rabbi Ariel Stone, Temple Shir Tikvah, Portland
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, Eugene, Oregon
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
Mimi German's War Poems bring the unfathomable out of the shadows and into the clear light
of truth. With her 100 poetic meditations, which ring like sounding bells, she leads us through
the darkness and into the open expanse of what peace between all people could be."
-Amy Rodriguez, Artist
An Opus! In its own right, truly rewarding!
-John Bertucci, Peace and Anti-nuclear Activist
When there was a roaring silence from so many, these poems comforted and companioned me
with their ability to hold a moment, to look at a shard of glass with all lights reflecting through.
They have helped me process the grief and shock of the latest war in the Middle East, through
the continuing escalation in Gaza, through the sometimes inexplicable reaction of various
nations. Thank you, Mimi, for your courage, your humanity, your search for truth, your
dedication to this world.
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
During a time when the most far-right government in Israel’s history has been found guilty of a
plausible case of genocide in Gaza by the International Court of Justice, it seems crucial for
Jewish and other poets to present alternative visions, visions for peace, for Israel and Palestine.
As a longtime poet and peace activist, Mimi German has the literary skills and political
experience to address these urgent and complicated times. Her war poems—really, peace
poems—are humane, thought-provoking, philosophically deep, and filled with the kind of
astonishing, “aha” phrasings that Emily Dickinson said were the ingredients needed to create
powerful and memorable poetry: “war can be heard in the silence of death”; “a genocide to
which they’ve cheered l’chaim”; “the game of revenge / ends in nightmares”; “we all have
forgotten never to forget.” While also mourning Israeli victims of the terrible 10/7 Hamas
attacks, and pages before explicitly criticizing the extremist, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu, German writes: “without anesthesia / let us hear the truth / about war.” And in these
pages, she offers nonviolent truths (“how does one sleep / when the pillows of justice / are
covered in bloodshed”) and truth-truce poems in ways that could hopefully warm even the
coldest of hearts.
-Eliot Katz, Poet and author of The Poetry and Politics of Allen Ginsberg
One hundred poems in 100 days, no misses. That is a major project all by itself but then to
publish it...that is courageous. Mimi German's heart lies in an Israel of peaceful coexistence
which she has fought for and has had to watch slip away. Her narrative images are charged with
that pain and longing.This is no curated collection, it is more of a diary. 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
Written without punctuation, and mostly without capitalization, they are small and heart-
breakingly poignant, large and generously encompassing; they are, by turns, memoir, dream,
remembrance, elegy, and eulogy; they take hope in nature’s presence and balm. They record the
day-to-day thoughts of German including the day-to-day escalation and horror, the feelings of
desperation and powerlessness, the hopes and the desolation. This beautiful collective work begs
the world for peace and understanding, an end to war, and implores us “to engage in love”.
I laud both the means and the goal of War Poems. German succeeds in bearing witness, in giving
hope, solace, and shared grief. This collection begins the process of healing and love. It
functioned for me as a kind of Lectio Divina, in the Christian tradition of spiritual reading,
meditation and prayer. These poems, these words, rise from war-infested days; the whole rises
like leavened bread. And we must listen, if we thirst for peace, if we hunger for unity. As German writes, “In the name ofhumanity / …let us forgive and let go / and never more / raise arms / in war”.
- Laura Grevel, Poet, Austria
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. The first 100 days of what we, the world, are living
through is written here in graphic detail, pulling no punches. “war is poverty of the mind” - a
mere six words conveying what war is. “if the trunk of even the oldest olive tree is cut down it
will not die” - hope in the air. “to write the unspeakable to bring my horror to the page”
Mimi German does not shirk from the stark reality of this genocide – her words are sharp, and
will linger long after her book is put down. “bodies compost the land” - “i cannot tell yesterday
from today” - she is bearing witness as if she is there – the poignancy of her words is palpable.
“war is just a missed opportunity for peace” - sage advice indeed. Mimi's last line “what have we
become?” - world leaders take note. This book of poems – one for each of the first 100 days – is
a valuable contribution to the body of literature on this terrible period in our living history – the
pen is always mightier than the sword, and these poems are a tour de force.
-Margaret O’Regan, Irish Activist Poet
A paean to love in the time of plagues, a poignant precise elucidation of the desolation row
death of the American Dream, and a rapturous ode to the mysterium tremendum the awe
inspiring terrible beauty of the high desert. With raven eyed razor sharp lyricism Mimi German's
WHERE GRASSES BEND is a masterpiece of poetry.
---Ron Whitehead, Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate
Mimi's verses elevate and embrace the voices of the vulnerable, forgotten, and disenfranchised.
These words are weapons sheathed in love.
--Revolutions Bookshop, Portland Oregon
German is a grit queen of the outlaw rebel poet tradition, of the oral tradition of the Beats,
Howling in anger and truth.
--KarlosTheUnhappy, International Beat Poet Laureate, England
I love these new poems by poet/Beatmaster, Mimi German. I recommend you get a copy of Where
Grasses Bend, but instead of reading the poems alone--at least--on the first time through--read them with a friend...
--Dennis Bernstein, Host of Flashpoints on Pacifica’s KPFA station
What is the language of the streets, of the unhoused millions who inhabit them?
As a poet and an activist/advocate for the houseless, Mimi German has written poems that tell the stories of the unseen. Beneath the Gravel Weight of Stars is a lyrical force as it translates the language of suffering, trauma, addiction, sorrow, love, and the fires of life & death. These poems are filled with a language you might not readily recognize-In the staccato breaks of thought and phrases that carry multiple meanings-to reveal the hidden, the underworld, and the shadows of the heart.
"These brief poems reverberate beyond what is on the page, giving readers much to think on and feel long after the final page. Stunning music is scattered throughout all of these poems." -Lisa Kwong, guest editor for The Hopper Poetry Prize
"These [poems] are beautiful and fierce and real." -Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes, TA for Allen Ginsberg