SELECT ART & POETRY
Recent Publications: |
* Artwork by Stav was published in AJS Perspectives: The Magazine of the Association for Jewish Studies, Summer 2025: The Rainbow Issue.
* A poem by Stav was published in the poetry journal Salon des Refusés, issue: "Secret" (Summer 2025) * Hebrew poems by Stav were published in Ho! Literary Magazine, vol. 29 "Myths" (Summer 2025) |
To inquire about artwork prices to commission poems, contact Stav here.
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Self-Portrait of a UK Immigrant in Lockdown on Election Day in Her Homeland (2021) (Winner: 3rd Place, Long-Distance Poetry Competition) She didn't sleep all night because her fallopian tubes are assholes She cried all morning because she misses her grandma Who is just as depressed as her today, so she said on the phone And she's feeling guilty because she is so very far away And because today is the 4th National Election in the span of two years And once again she's not there to do her part for her country Her country, which she still calls home despite everything The first time she came across a dreidel in the diaspora She laughed — there must be a mistake It’s supposed to say “A Great Miracle Happened Here”! She laughed at the goyim, fools, they probably used Google Translate And manufactured an entire line of faulty dreidels And then she understood that she’s the fool here “A Great Miracle Happened There”, because she’s no longer Here she purchased the most British cardigan ever An oversized cable knit brown cardigan, with deep pockets And wooden buttons. She will go on a walk That’s what the Brits do here Later, in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of English tea She makes tahini in the food processor Adding water, lemon, and fresh garlic Searching for the perfect balance Between solid and liquid, sour and savoury, Between here and there. |
Judges' Commentary:
"A convincing, existential poem about the experience of distance as it echoes in a woman living in diaspora - both here and there, neither here nor there. Like the dreidel experiencing confusion in diaspora, not sure if it is here or there, distance is embodied in every circle: The physical circle - a physical pain in a foreign space; the family circle - missing her grandma to tears; and the national circle - the feeling of guilt, amplified on the day of elections. The poem remains life-sized and does not presume to offer magic solutions nor big conclusions beyond seeking balance between doing 'what the Brits do here' and a sensory insistence to find home by making 'tahini in the food processor.'" |
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Medusa (2024) I cannot recall When I first felt their gaze Treasuring me, measuring me Like a prize to be won Their gaze roaming my body Assessing every inch From my hair Down to my feet Their eyes are sand paper, scraping Filing me down Making me small. Distressed, bereft, I turned to Athena, I begged her: Goddess of wisdom Advise me, comfort me -- And it was there Poseidon found me. He grabbed the waves of my hair Forcefully, as if grabbing his horses' reigns Bringing foam to my lips Grunting in my ears of my eyes As blue as the sea. Later she found me Unconscious on her altar My blood defiling her temple And they say that in her divine, Omnipotent wrath, she punished me So they say Those ignorant fools Not understanding Their male gaze blind To justice served by a woman All who look upon me will turn into stone And ever since, nobody looks upon me Not even Poseidon Although the waves lap At my bare feet, and the salt Scraping my skin Softens and smoothes me Like an eel I walk on the shore Looking out at the sea As blue as my eyes My snakes twisting around me Free to walk as I please Head held high |
All is Temporary (2025) I yearn to embed myself in your ribs Burying my head in your chest Hugging you close to me You are a part of me. But also, I know: It's only for now. In this one life All is temporary All is temporary In this one life It's only for now. But also, I know: You are a part of me. Hugging you close to me Burying my head in your chest I yearn to embed myself in your ribs |