This one I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks. Finally got the chance to write it yesterday while waiting for my flight back home from Palma.
For my English readers, I apologize but no translation for now… Im not sure if I can do this poem justice in translation. The title I can loosely translate to: “How do we Part“.
Hope you like it.
After a very (very) long time of no creative writing on my part I’ve written a poem, dedicated to my beautiful wife, Shani.
With the memory of your eyes
I can push a little further
I will manage another day
Remembering their glow I am better
A memory that pulls on me
A burning settling inside
The knowing that it is not too late
It’s the feeling of urgency I cannot hide
This one I finished last Sunday, November 15th, 2009 while visiting the beautiful San Francisco.
Thoughts about this poem though came while visiting Eilat(Israel’s Southernmost city) which sits on the Red Sea(Yam Suf).
Hope you enjoy it.
This one i wrote in June of 2005. Strangely enough, I haven’t marked down the exact date of its writing even though I’ve started doing that long before.
I was reminded of this poem just the other day from speaking to a friend about being in Chicago and visiting its Jazz clubs.
I have to say that I have very fond memories of Chicago, it was a wonderful time and I found a really great city to experience and enjoy as well as meeting very interesting people while being there.
This one i wrote on July 2nd, 2009.
The standard disclaimers apply, the poem was originally written in Hebrew therefore the translation may lose or change some of the meanings, rhyming, wordplay, etc.
I found myself sitting before the horizon
Looking at that distant line
The border between a memory and a touch
A divider between my past and the dream.
I found myself for one moment content
for an instant gazing at it aloof
It – that cuts the imagination to broken shards of glass
The ever threatening wave that is reluctant to come.
As I sat there, I found a tree nearby
Old it was, barren limbs, leafs no longer growing
like me its gaze is full of wonder
but the tree is staying here and I’m already disappearing.
I found myself thinking about that disconcerting horizon
Does more life exist beyond its colors?
Is it covering an internal light, or rather,
Is it holding back the darkness from blanketing my world?
Does the horizon also have searching eyes?
Does it see my already fading footsteps?
For a moment it pleased me to sit here
but I’m rising to go, I’m already disappearing.
The original Hebrew version:
מצאתי עצמי יושב מול האופק
מביט אל אותו קו מרוחק
הגבול בין זכרון ובין נגיעה
חוצץ שעובר בין עברי והחלום.
מצאתי עצמי לרגע מרוצה
לרגע באדישות לעברו בוהה
הוא שחותך דמיון לזכוכית שבורה
הגל המאיים אך שלא מגיע.
בעודי יושב שם מצאתי לידי עץ
עץ זקן, ענפיו ריקים ועליו לא צומחים
כמוני הוא מסתכל לעבר האופק ומשתהה
אך הוא נשאר כאן ואני כבר נעלם.
מצאתי עצמי חושב על אותו אופק מתעתע
האם מעבר לצבעיו יישנם עוד חיים?
האם הוא מסתיר אור נצחי, או שמא,
מחזיק מבעד החושך לכסות עולמי?
האם גם לאופק עיניים מחפשות?
האם רואה את עקבותיי שכבר מטשטשות?
לרגע קט הישיבה נעמה לי
אך אני קם והולך, אני כבר נעלם.
As some of you know I’ve taken upon myself to try and publish a link to a poem i like per day on Twitter: #PoemOfTheDay.
Admittedly, I havent been able to keep it up everyday since I started but I did manage to share quite a few over the past few months.
I’d like to take the opportunity to collect some of my personal recent favorites in this post.
Enjoy!
August 19th 2009 – “Metallic Wing” by Efrat Mishori: http://tinyurl.com/mdlv57 – “Metallic wing in its socket, beating unseen.”
August 18th 2009 – “Pleasure for Pleasure” by Peter Stavropoulos: http://bit.ly/3Y7S4O – “…Pleasure for pleasure will surely start”
August 13th 2009 – “Night Heron” by Samuel Peralta: http://bit.ly/rtZ1m – “rising from the waters / like a dream.”
August 11th 2009 – “Sonnet 56” by William Shakespeare: http://bit.ly/hPEcw – “Sweet love, renew thy force! Be it not said…”
August 10th 2009 – “from: Prayers of Atonement” by Lea Goldberg http://bit.ly/klx4t -”If there were torments–then they voyaged toward you”
August 3rd 2009 – “Endless Poem” by Yehuda Amichai: http://bit.ly/jGQ7o – “Within me / My heart / Within my heart / A museum”
July 30th 2009 – “Listening” by Amy Lowell: http://bit.ly/1K8pK – “‘T is you that are the music, not your song…”
July 27th 2009 – “The Garden” by Mark Strand: http://bit.ly/rSKuf – “it shines: even now in the moment before it disappears.”
July 26th 2009 – “Song of Hope” by Thomas Hardy: http://bit.ly/n4rlU – “To-morrow shines soon -Shines soon!”
July 21st 2009 – “On Pain” by Khalil Gibran: http://bit.ly/vmHgr – “…your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy…”
July 17th 2009 - “Petals” by Amy Lowell: http://twurl.nl/s5v6ai – “…Petal by petal the flower of our heart…”
July 16th 2009 – “When the Eyes Open” by Dahlia Ravikovitz: http://bit.ly/Z8Re0 -”as the soul returns to the body when the eyes open.”
July 15th 2009 – “Touched by an Angel” by Maya Angelou: http://bit.ly/uAerx – “Yet it is only love which sets us free.”
July 12th 2009 – “A Pearl, a Girl” by Robert Browning: http://bit.ly/6rDpB -”…Through the love in a girl!”
July 10th 2009 – “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duffy: http://bit.ly/YMoIj -”I give you an onion. It is a moon wrapped in brown paper…”
July 4th 2009 – “Moonwalk” by Samuel Peralta : http://bit.ly/4sbHqx -”…The words begin to form a song / The melody begins to burn…”
July 3rd 2009 – “Wild Nights” by Emily Dickinson: http://bit.ly/qOMhk -”…Wild nights should be Our luxury!…”
July 1st 2009 – “If You Forget Me” by Pablo Neruda: http://bit.ly/1j9EgT -”if each day,each hour,you feel that you are destined for..”
This one i wrote in June 2004:
The standard disclaimers apply, the poem was originally written in Hebrew therefore the translation may lose or change some of the meanings, rhyming, wordplay, etc.
Lost,
Cannot find her
She won’t come back to me
No gentle word will be enough.
Drowning,
Air is no longer found
The will to breathe gone as well
My life is where she is
And she is gone.
Blind,
No light is strong enough
No scream in the dark is heard
It is just the wind blowing in the gaping hole
She was mine but no more.
Stumbling,
Step after step
Direction unknown
She will not be there when I arrive
Where will that be – doesn’t matter.
Dreaming,
The Images a blur
Like leafs a moment before the storm
What was – that was no dream
As real as pain
Pain of loss and longing
The dream slowly dissipates
Not Breaking,
Not whole either
A piece is distant and missing
Even when the wound heals
The scar will remain to remind me
And she, she will also be with me.
The original Hebrew version:
אבדתי,
אינני מוצא אותה
שוב אלי היא לא תחזור
שום מילה עדינה לא תספיק.
טובע,
האוויר גם הוא לא בנמצא
והרצון לנשום גם הוא נעלם
חיי היכן שהיא תהיה
והיא איננה.
עיוור,
אף אור לא חזק מספיק
אף צעקה בחושך איננה נשמעת
רק הרוח המנשבת בחלל שנפער
שלי הייתה אך לא עוד.
מועד,
צעד אחר צעד
הכיוון אינו ידוע
אך היא לא תהיה שם כשאגיע
גם לא תהיה שם לפני שאלך
לאן – זה כבר לא משנה.
חולם,
התמונות מסתחררות
כמו העלים רגע לפני שהסערה מגיעה
אך מה שהיה לא חלום הוא
אמיתי כמו הכאב
כאב של אובדן וגעגוע
אט אט מתפוגג לו החלום.
לא נשבר,
אך גם לא שלם באמת
משהו חסר ותמיד רחוק
גם שהפצע יחלים
הצלקת תשאר להזכיר לי
והיא, גם היא תשאר איתי.
This is one i wrote today: 29/07/2009 (on the way to work).
Walking down the street alone
The throng around me pulses
A pretty girl passes by
Is there a small smile for me
Hiding in her weary expression?
Walking resumes, I never stopped
Nevertheless I resume.
The letters on the street wall say:
“Love is Possible”
No question mark, it’s just there
Why do the letters seem to quiver?
Three little words
Words giving hope, words obliterating consciousness
Do these words lie to me?
Go on walking, I didn’t stop
Yet I continue.
“LOVE IS POSSIBLE”
I shout to the foggy air
There is no doubt in the sound
Then why does my voice quiver?
The echo seems to mock me
Did my heart lie?
Is that the sun behind rolling clouds?
Will it shine for me?
This one i wrote today: 18/07/2009.
Enjoy.
In love’s defense,
she was here first
Long before we came along
She was never ours to hold
She never belonged to us
but to the world
Belonged to the butterflies’ wings
and to the tree tops’ wind
Our claim on her was never just
All our praises never enough
In Love’s defense,
She never presumed to be more
than what she is
Never asked for anything in return
Not once ridiculed our ethereal groping
Her light continues to elude
our ever present darkness
She dances between music notes
Swims in life’s deep currents
She is free
for us to enjoy
She is here
for us to share
Never own
In love’s defense -
She is LOVE.
This poem i wrote in the summer of 2001.
I wrote it on a piece of napkin at this very quaint restaurant in Poland, we were on a family trip to Poland and we were sitting at this authentic restaurant for dinner with stuffed dear heads on the walls, on the table there was a dripping candle and at that moment this poem was born.
Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave me a comment to let me know what you think about it.
The standard disclaimers apply, the poem was originally written in Hebrew therefore the translation may lose or change some of the meanings, rhyming, wordplay, etc.
New flame, darkness gone
Pure flame, abundant light
Flame flickers, storm outside
Red flame, candle burning
First wax drip
Then one more
Pouring without cease
Flame died
Candle dwindled
Darkness.
The original Hebrew version:
להבה חדשה, החשכה נעלמה
להבה טהורה, נדלקת ומאירה
הלהבה רועדת, בחוץ סוער
להבה אדומה, הנר בוער
טיפת שעווה ראשונה
עוד אחת אחריה
זולגות ללא הפסקה
הלהבה כבתה
הנר דעך
חשכה.
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