I know that poems
Are not the fare
Of all your weekly reads
That entertain
When you can’t learn
And other wordly needs
But what a world
It has become
With all the stuff out there
From magazines and newspapers
And news From Here to There
Remember there was just one
They use to call the “Press”
A magazine that did “Observe”
And issues did address
Then there was Olomeinu
That entertained a kid
And for the Yiddish speakers
The Journal or Der Yid
But books and periodicals?
Hardly any sales
Save Fishel goes with Freidel
Perhaps some Talks and Tales
And suddenly they came alive
Books and magazines
For bubbies, moms
And tiny tots
And toddlers and teens
Stories of gedolim
Novels of our time
Articles for every age
Even ones that rhyme!
Even our batalah
And time that we may spend
Relaxing without too much thought
May have some dividend
With colored animations
With pictures almost real
With characters that shout at you
As if they might be real!
Be it mussar or a vort
A moshol or a story
About the wonders of this world
And praising Hashem’s glory
We’re truly inundated
With what we have to read
And those who picked Yated Ne’eman
Made a great choice indeed!
Oh yes, we’ve come a long way
In what comes in our homes
And I thank you
For still reading
Old Bashevkin’s poems
