1930-2020
he thought about his death for many years
His last years were unbearable. No one should have to fade away as he did, with such bitterness and sadness.
years and years ago i translated some poems of his. I got the idea before he agreed to participate in a conference on creative writing that I had organized at Tel Aviv University. And I presented him with the poems as I drove him to the conference. Then, when i introduced him to the audience seated in the auditorium, he motioned with his head that he didn’t want to get up and speak, and I was left to waffle something on the stage. I never published the poems, and now I don’t know where they are. All i have is this:
Natan Zach:
It is not good for man to be alone,
but in any case he’s alone.
he waits but he is alone
and he delays and he’s alone
and he alone knows that even if he delays,
it will surely ensue
I always hear this song and I feel I am a guy who knows he’s got to leave this woman, but he keeps putting it off. It is sung by Yudit Ravitz and so soulfully that I don’t always listen to the words. But when I do, I think of the woman he’s leaving, and how she probably has no idea of his inner struggle, and maybe she’ll jump off the roof when he leaves.