Fear - 5.26.26
this poem went over well in firstofthemonth, but not so well in other places. i love it as a musical piece.
it shows the fear that the humor in the poem is in denial about.
israeli politics
israeli politics
our blood is the world's petrol 5.25.26
for the first anniversary of the death of Asher Reich, the Writers’ Union is holding a memorial evening. I’m set to read this poem I translated 40 years ago:
OUR BLOOD IS THE WORLD’S PETROL
The day passes. We’ve gained some time.
Our days pass by in trash dreams.
Once I knew a boy
who waited for his life
and found his death.
His death
leavening
was a warning shot to me.
A dozing generation that awaits a miracle.
Waits in vain to the end of its strength.
Wait. Maybe somewhere
in the ground of the seventh heaven
the best of our pilots
will discover cosmic oil.
Our blood is the world’s petrol.
of course i read it in hebrew.
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israeli politics
the deal - 5.24.26
The Deal, whatever it turns out to be, will not be good. I keep thinking about “Go” and other board games when the object is to surround the opponent so that they cannot move. When I see the kids flat on the floor to hide from 30 hizballah rockets just today, I feel we are in that position.
the deal – 5.24.26 Read Post »
israeli politics
incorporating music - 5.23.26
or “The Desert Breeds Monotheists”
here’s the text:
Starlight in your eyes
starlight is the prize
Your beauty blooms
only in the dark
Starlight in your eyes
starlight is the price
When will I be allowed
into your heart
Your body sways
a caravan in the night
circles within circles
the resonance of zills
piercing the dark
the unknown blackness
Darling only the darkness
gives relief
from the blinding sun
enduring grief.
Caravans riding through endless dunes
thirsting for the touch of water on the lips
all day long I long for you
I cannot reach the end of you
— your starlight, your eyes—
the ever-changing price,
the gold scattering from your feet
sand, shining like wheat
your footprints everywhere in the sand
as you dance away across the land
I call to you from the depths of all I hunger for
like the desert has called for centuries
Come to me come to me
incorporating music – 5.23.26 Read Post »
israeli politics
drones - 5.22.26
i’m not reading the news accurately – the big danger up north seems to be drones. Drones and invasion attempts. I think of my loved ones on the border and of the mutilation and rape on October 7 and my mind crumbles.
israeli politics
rockets all day up north - 5.22.26
We had a great afternoon at the beach. A fine lunch, good friends, great stories. The great waves that caused the lifeguards to chase everyone out of the water calmed down in the afternoon and the children raced to the sea. Ezi managed to turn off the notices that come to my watch and I was incredibly grateful to him – so that only when we came home did we realize that the north has been bombarded all day long.
rockets all day up north – 5.22.26 Read Post »
israeli politics
shvuout – 5.22.26
This may be the first year my friends and I didn’t spend a part of the evening discussing the holiday. Even though most of the group is not interested in religion, the hostess always prepares a speech. But this year even the speech was irrelevant. We were all distracted by the death or degeneration of some of our usual participants, friends for decades. And the war may start up again any minute. And the constant rockets in the north. Hard to remember the beauty of the first fruits. hard to think of David’s grandmother.
israeli politics
under fire - 5.21.26
So you want to know how the poetry reading went. Well, even though I was overwhelmed by the way my computer was behaving, I was impressed by how the poets managed to convey the sense of individual and collective fear and helplessness that we all feel in these years of war. I’ll send a link soon.
But for me, even though I just read a funny poem about fear, what was important to discover was that when I spoke of fear and mourning, I was feeling it for each individual in the group – those whose houses were destroyed, those who were displaced, those who discovered new diseases that are clearly war related and those whose children have lost years of schooling…
and now it will begin again. Those who have drones coming in their windows to destroy them, those who are struggling to get past mortal injuries from previous bombings of civilians and military personell… I could go on forever and I still have touched on the subject of October 7 itself.
Even the fact that no newspaper abroad is paying attention to our simple sufferning is a source of grief for me.
under fire – 5.21.26 Read Post »