Eileen Rosensteel

Eileen Rosensteel continues to write. She  gives readings in the Madison, WI area. If my wish is ever granted to go back to visit Madison, I will go to one of her readings (I will schedule my visit so that I am there when she gives one/them.).

There is a place in Madison, WI called Gates of Heaven. It used to be a synagogue. It was the oldest in Madison, probably the oldest in Dane County. It is now rented out for social and spiritual functions and gatherings. I have this vision of Eileen giving a reading there. It is a beautiful old wooden building very close to the shores of Lake Mendota.

Eileen writes shorter poems into which she crafts words and worlds of haunting imagery. Anger and delight, sadness, thoughtful wisdom, rebellion and rebirth fill her poems.


From Fat Poets Speak 2:  Living and Loving Fatly

Eileen Rosensteel

Myth

The story is told at your mother’s knee

How wonderful your life will be when you are thin.

Your pretty face will shift into beauty.

Awkward and shy transformed into grace and wit,

belle of the ball is what you will be when you are thin.

The myth is passed along in your doctor’s office

knees and hips move painlessly,

diseases from arthritis to West Nile virus avoided

when you are thin it’s as if you will live forever.

TV and magazines tell us stories of those whose

lives have been made perfect through the magic of thin.

Dream jobs, relationships, no more money worries.

Talents exposed when you are thin.

Worshiping at the altars of Diet, Exercise and Willpower

built our culture out of the Myth of Thinness.