Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
On the first of each month, Catching Days hosts a guest writer in the series, “How We Spend Our Days.”
Today, please welcome writer
ESTHER COHEN
I think about how
I’ve been waking up
in a rent stabilized
for fifty years (!!!)
bedroom directly across
from the conical turret
of the Museum of Natural History
where Margaret Mead wrote
her letters and her books.
Light from here to there
Is often pink, not just
In the morning, but all day.
My room is a deep orange now.
The colors have changed over
the years (bright yellow, deep
blue, green that was almost
celadon) but the room itself
hasn’t changed much.
Many sentences, a few good
enough, happened here.
Many people walk through
the doors. Sometimes,
I write down what they say.
(Estefano and Nick from
across the hall just stopped in.)
When I moved here my next door
neighbor was Mrs. Israel.
A month before she died, she
called me in for tea. Unlike
anyone else in this building,
she wore a blue Talbot suit,
navy pumps to match.
She served tea in floral china cups.
We had one small biscuit each.
“I have to tell you this,”
she said. “There was never
a Mister Israel. Don’t tell
anyone until I die.”
I waited years to
tell Estefano and Nick.
~
THOSE SAME 3 NEW QUESTIONS…
1. What one word best describes your writing life?
- Spontaneous.
2. Is there a book you’ve read over and over again?
-
Grace Paley’s Enormous Changes at the Last Minute.
3. What is your strangest obsession or habit?
-
I’ve been collecting found handwritten notes from everywhere for many years. I have a folder of supermarket shopping lists that other people have left behind. Those lists (half and half, lemons, strawberry jam) make a funny series of strangers daily poems.
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A
By ESTHER COHEN
A
A
A
—Other Writers in the Series—
Wonderful!
It’s a great site!
Dear Fran, Thank you thank you
Love Esther’s writing style!
Dear Stephanie, I love your writing too. Jenny Douglas has been pointing me your way!!!!
When I read what you write, Esther, I feel like I am right there, inside your day.
Thank you REENA for your generous words. xxx
amazing.. poetry and laughs at the same time..
Wow! These books look swell! Which means good.
Thank you Mario. Maybe you’ll like them (!!!!) Yours esther
Thank you for spotlighting Esther “Book Doctor” Cohen. There should be a picture of her in the dictionary for sui generis.
In addition to her innate respect and curiosity about all living things, she is one of the most generous artists I have met. I hope others who read about her on your site will buy her books. Through Esther, I’ve become interested in your books and will read them soon! Because that’s what Esther does — she connects people to people.
Thank you for your generosity Bernett. xxxx
I would love to spend one entire day in the LIfe of Esther Cohen.
Come join me xxxx
So Esther!
So Claire xxx