Short Stories and Poems of Rhoda Rabinowitz Green

FINDING MARYAN

is the creative rendering of the life of Maryan Filar, internationally acclaimed pianist, protégé of the renowned Walter Gieseking and survivor of Buchenwald, Majdanek and Skarzysko Kamienna. It includes scenes from his life in wartime Poland and a crisis event that almost destroyed his very core. After many intervening years since Rhoda studied with Maryan, she finds where he is living and reestablishes the relationship. Their coming together is revelatory and sweet, yet sorrowful. The piece reaches beyond the story of one man to confront themes of inhumanity, and conversely, humanity; art and spirituality; hope and courage; memory and aging.

Shayndeleh

An elderly woman who, despite her advancing cognitive degeneration, is still lucid and perceptive enough to grasp her situation, with all the consequent pain — and bittersweet humour — such a dilemma brings.

First published as Inside the Inside Looking Outside, Parchment (Toronto, Canada) 2006-2008 Edition

SHAYNDELEH'S REAL ESTATE:

This story is connected to the one above by characters and theme. The day after niece Tzifkie's visit, Jeanne (Shayndeleh) flashes back to a drive through her old neighbourhood one last time before her son Arnie checks her in. She is thrown by what has happened to her street, neighbourhood, and what used to be her home, as a result of the turmoil of the sixties and its civil rights upheavals. The climax of the story comes at this moment of epiphany, its emotional climax in the denouement as Shayndeleh's thoughts wrench us into our contemporary social/political scene.

AGE APPROPRIATE:

A satiric account in epistolary form of a forty-something woman's encounter with a plastic surgeon. The story reaches beyond one woman's experience to themes of identity, aging, societal perceptions and the pursuit of eternal youth and beauty. Any person, man or woman, aware of his/her own advance through life can relate to this piece of reality-based fiction. The story should bring a few laughs, some insight, a bit of nostalgia and a soupçon of wisdom.

ASPECTS OF NATURE

A satirical glimpse of modern society. The setting is a dinner party for eight in the country at the height of a Gothic summer storm. The energy and humour of the story is in its fast paced, stichomythic (cut and thrust) dialogue, and its minimalist texture.

This story placed as a finalist in The Writers' Union of Canada Short Prose Competition, 1994.

First published in The Louisville Review (Louisville, Kentucky, USA)

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE, ANYWAY?

A rondo-like prose poem, in which narrator Leon laments the death of his wife of fifty years. In the face of death, Shirley, husband Leon, and friend Rhonda, talk of Rhonda's plans to serve brisket ordered in from the deli at an upcoming dinner party. Such talk of the ordinary heightens our sense of the inevitable as well as foreverness.

First published in The Fiddlehead (New Brunswick; Canada), Summer 1996.

DEAR DOCTOR:

A satiric account in epistolary form of a woman’s experience as a patient in the male dominated medical world.

First published in Fireweed (Toronto; Canada), Summer 1994.

THE DAY OF THE GORGON

Pursuing his endless list-making of those he might call on in times of need; his writing; and sculpting whimsical forms, using strewn stones and natural objects found on the beach by the sea, three seemingly disparate activities, Holocaust survivor, Marek Wronski searches to understand the unfathomable.

First published in Jewish Currents (New York; USA), 1999

OUT TO LUNCH WITH THE GIRLS

The story of eighty year old Hannah, it presents a view of ageing, family, and the role of women within it. Wife, mother and grandmother, admitting to being "only" seventy-eight, she's at a loss to understand what has gone wrong.

First published in Parchment (Toronto; Canada), 1994-95 issue.

YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION

A brief Biblical excerpt, a fairy-tale-like first section, a scene of cut-and-thrust dialogue, and a final, major section set in London, England, presents this story of a woman's journey toward self-discovery as she pursues the roles of wife, mother, and musician, told with a liberal dose of humour.

First published in Dandelion (Alberta; Canada), Spring 1994.

Sistersong
Women Across
Cultures

THE WIND AT HER BACK

Using the imagistic language of music, this story speaks to the conflict between love and career, commitment and personal choice. Drawn to Ari, charismatic Master Teacher and renowned concert pianist, Rachel confronts her feelings for him, and her own ambitions.

First published in Sistersong (Pittsburgh, Penna; USA), January 1998.
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It is Written

An elegy inspired by a psalm in the High Holiday services: On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed: . . . who shall be tranquil and who shall be troubled . . ..

Published, Parchment (Toronto, Canada) 2006-2008 Edition

The Cherry Picker

The poem turns on the use of the descriptive name, moving from celebration to lament.

Published, Red Claw Press (Toronto, Canada); On the Web, for Crave It: Writers Do Food anthology; May 2011