Longing

What is so compelling about Feld's writing is her ability to capture defining moments in her own life in ways that lead the reader to say, yes, I feel that way too. Her willingness to engage deeply with painful experiences of abuse and loss while also celebrating beauty and intimacy virtually ensures that readers will find many points of connection with this powerful book. –– Judith Plaskow, PhD, coauthor of Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology

In Longing, Merle Feld opens her tender and strong heart, speaks from the depths of her being, and expresses in touching and heartrending poetry the sorrows and joys, trials and satisfactions that mark human life. This is a book that both disturbs and caresses the soul. ––Rabbi David Ellenson, PhD, Chancellor Emeritus, Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion

Merle Feld's bracing poetry deepens and challenges the Jewish canon, while finding language for the moments we might have otherwise buried or missed. This book is bravely personal, deeply stirring, unblinking. You will revisit your own truths in these poems, finding power and courage in her beautiful words. ––Abigail Pogrebin, author of My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew

I know I will read this book many times. It is that kind of book--one that you grow with. Read one page and you'll see: the truths Merle Feld reveals in Longing unlock everything, and leave everyone wide open.––Rabbi Noa Kushner, Founding Rabbi, The Kitchen, San Francisco

When I teach poetry workshops, I always begin by telling participants to kill the censor and write what they are afraid to write. In Longing: Poems of a Life, Merle Feld has done so with such strength and clarity; I'm gripped by her story. I should say, "her stories," for there are many--and they reach out in so many directions. Anger, shame, sweetness, love--what it's like to live through and beyond them all, and all with compassion. ––Alicia Ostriker, New York State Poet Laureate Emerita

Feld's collection features poems of gripping immediacy, but they add up to a reflective, holistic view of a woman's life in which one sees beginnings shape a future and pain build compassion and strength. ... A fine collection that brings secret travails to life with passionate intensity. ––Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Longing is more of a life review, a work that reconstructs her past, especially her early childhood, in an extremely open and honest way. Whether it's through activism, poetry or mentoring, Feld remains motivated towards bringing about a better future. She's important to all readers who seek the sacred.––Aaron Howard, Jewish Herald-Voice