Life

The Poetry of Being an Expectant Father

By Jake Marmer January 12, 2011

Jake Marmer, who writes about poetry for the Forward, is an excited father-to-be. He shares what it’s like to be an expectant dad in this piece of performance poetry, titled “Kicks”:

Marmer is working toward his Ph.D. in comparative literature at CUNY Graduate Center and developing the Jazz Talmud Project, which combines poetry and music in neo-Talmudic performances. His next performance is tonight at the Cell Theater. Information is at www.jakemarmer.wordpress.com.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount

Dive In

Explore

The Poetry of Being an Expectant Father

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Dive In

What is Tu B’shvat? A guide to Judaism’s most underrated holiday

Chanel had a complicated relationship with Jews — until Karl Lagerfeld showed up

COVID-19 changed shiva traditions — will one of the most beloved ever return?

My sister was a master knitter. When she died, I picked up her needles — literally.

Most Popular

In Case You Missed It

Rep. Ritchie Torres, outspoken pro-Israel advocate, is dropping hints that he could run for NY governor

Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96

A Jewish museum in Tulsa held a funeral for remains of Holocaust victims it kept for years

Texas A&M’s Sam Salz cherishes his first taste of DI college football — and the opportunity to inspire fellow Orthodox Jews

The Poetry of Being an Expectant Father

Forwarding the News

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Dive In

What is Tu B’shvat? A guide to Judaism’s most underrated holiday

Chanel had a complicated relationship with Jews — until Karl Lagerfeld showed up

COVID-19 changed shiva traditions — will one of the most beloved ever return?

My sister was a master knitter. When she died, I picked up her needles — literally.

Most Popular

Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US

The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.

Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong

Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.

In Case You Missed It

Rep. Ritchie Torres, outspoken pro-Israel advocate, is dropping hints that he could run for NY governor

Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96

A Jewish museum in Tulsa held a funeral for remains of Holocaust victims it kept for years

Texas A&M’s Sam Salz cherishes his first taste of DI college football — and the opportunity to inspire fellow Orthodox Jews

Shop the Forward Store

Republish This Story

The Poetry of Being an Expectant Father