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Herschel Silverman: Small Business Owner to Jazz Poet
 If you went to high school in Bayonne, New
Jersey, from 1952 to 1986, chances are you hung out at Herschel's Beehive Candy Store. And
chances are the proprietor, Herschel Silverman, was sponsoring your sports team while he
encouraged you to excel. But perhaps you might not have known that "the candystore
emperor of Bayonne" (as in a poem by Allen Ginsberg) was also a jazz poet of
considerable renown, amassing poetry credits in his spare time. Today, at 73 Silverman is
"engaged in the poet's life full time." He is writing, proofing, giving
readings, corresponding, editing and mentoring other poets. "What was essentially a
hobby has now become a full time activity with enough breaks to enjoy and give support to
my children and grandchildren," Hersch says.
Here's his recipe for enjoyment of
life: stay active. "Gain satisfaction from any little success attained. Be satisfied
to have accomplished a small goal, and go on to other goals."
Silverman has published hundreds of
poems in literary journals including Long Shot, Alpha Beat (Canada), Journal of New Jersey
Poets 20th Anniversary Issue, Kerouac Connection and was the editor of BEEHIVE Magazine of
Contemporary Poetry (New Jersey). He has performed his work in scores of locations
including The Poetry Project/St. Mark's Church (New York), The New England Poetry
Festival, and Berkeley Divinity School of Yale University. He has 20 collections of
poetry, including collections at the Memorial Library at the University of Wisconsin and
the Library of the University of Chicago. His work has been translated into German and
Japanese. Here's a sample from Poems Forged in a Forest of Words (JVC Books, 509 N.
12th Avenue, Arcadia, FL 34266, $5.95 pp):
Hither & Dither & Yon On A
Lucid Moon
I croon this toon
for the men on the lucid moon
Neil and Ralph
and Al Phalpha
a rap for the hot hip hoppers
boppers
beating their gums
with silvery spoons
calling for poems
from Santa Claus
because exactly to say
this trip suddenly takes
on a different perspective
poetry is the Desire
the Disease
and misses the mark
whatever it is
and collects a downtown diary
of barbaric yelps
yawps
rants in the pants . . .
Read more about Herschel Silverman in The
Candy Store Man, a book for children by Jonathan London, illustrated by Kevin
O'Malley, or look for two forthcoming collections: Selected Poems and the 30th
Anniversary Collection.
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