We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 CAD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes lyric booklet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Menorah – Songs From a Jewish Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days

      $15 CAD or more 

     

about

To download PDF lyric sheets and credits visit: shelleyposen.com/lyrics/

lyrics

With Mum and Dad gone we were cleaning the house
Where they’d lived since they’d moved there in ’78
There were his clothes and her clothes and hundreds of photos
And dozens of medicines long out of date
The shabis menorah was there on the mantle
The Passover cups in a cabinet nearby
A drawer of taleysim in bags of blue velvet
Two bottles, unopened, of Crown Royal rye.

Then my little daughter came up and said, “Daddy
“Come see the ‘fork garden’ I found over here” —
We went to the kitchen where Mum had grown houseplants
In splendid profusion for many’s a year
My daughter then pointed to pieces of silverware
Stuck in the soil round the rim of each pot
And mem’ries rushed into my mind as I realized
What I was seeing and had almost forgot.

I said to her, “Sweetheart, when I was just little
“I’d make a mistake and I’d use the wrong fork:
“Milkhig for fleyshig and fleyshig for milkhig
“I’d just grab whatever utensil would work
“So Bobie would bury it out in the garden
“And after three days it was kosher again
“And as Zeyda got older, he too got forgetful
“And kept Bobie busy right through till the end.”

My daughter’s grown into a lovely young woman
Too young to remember her bobie back then
But often when we’re telling old family stories
She mentions her bobie’s fork garden again.
Sometimes a monument needn’t be made out of
Marble and stand in a big public square
Sometimes it only takes forks stuck in potting soil
To call up a life of devotion and care.

It’s bobie’s fork garden
My mother’s fork garden
It’s Bushie’s fork garden ….

credits

from Menorah – Songs From a Jewish Life, released January 1, 2007

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Shelley Posen image

Shelley Posen Ottawa, Ontario

SHELLEY POSEN is a Canadian songwriter and performer of his own and traditional songs. He writes in many styles and on many subjects. His songs are widely recognized for their wit, craftsmanship, and the profound effect many seem to have on listeners.

contact / help

Contact Shelley Posen

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Shelley Posen, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now