Poem
Israel Bar Kohav
I SPEAK AND YOU DROWN
I speak and you drown,muttering in the heavy rain.
Fear kidnapped you from life’s canopy and drowned you in the deep,
where even the hand of your God does not reach.
A sea rises within you in the rest home
in your ninety-second year
and a deluge courses through you. Oblivion
is the mother of all life.
© Translation: 2014, Lisa Katz
The Hebrew phrase in the closing line, "em kol hi," literally “the mother of all life,” is used to denote the biblical Eve.
אני מדבר ואת נמלאת מים
אני מדבר ואת נמלאת מים
אֲנִי מְדַבֵּר וְאַתְּ נִמְלֵאת מַיִם.
בַּגֶּשֶׁם הַגָּדוֹל מְמַלְמֶלֶת,
פַּחַד חָטַף אוֹתָךְ מֵחֻפַּת חַיַּיִךְ וְהִטְבִּיעֵךְ בַּמְּצוּלוֹת,
גַּם אֱלֹהִים שֶׁלָּךְ קָצְרָה יָדוֹ.
כְּשֶׁגָּאָה בָּךְ יָם, בְּשִׁבְתֵךְ בְּ'בֵית מְנוּחָה'
בִּשְׁנָתֵךְ הַתִּשְׁעִים וּשְׁתַּיִם
בָּא בְּתוֹכֵךְ מַבּוּל, שִׁכְחָה
הִיא אֵם כָּל חַי.
בַּגֶּשֶׁם הַגָּדוֹל מְמַלְמֶלֶת,
פַּחַד חָטַף אוֹתָךְ מֵחֻפַּת חַיַּיִךְ וְהִטְבִּיעֵךְ בַּמְּצוּלוֹת,
גַּם אֱלֹהִים שֶׁלָּךְ קָצְרָה יָדוֹ.
כְּשֶׁגָּאָה בָּךְ יָם, בְּשִׁבְתֵךְ בְּ'בֵית מְנוּחָה'
בִּשְׁנָתֵךְ הַתִּשְׁעִים וּשְׁתַּיִם
בָּא בְּתוֹכֵךְ מַבּוּל, שִׁכְחָה
הִיא אֵם כָּל חַי.
© 2005, Am Oved
From: Beh-karov ahava
Publisher: Am Oved, Tel Aviv
From: Beh-karov ahava
Publisher: Am Oved, Tel Aviv
Poems
Poems of Israel Bar Kohav
Close
I SPEAK AND YOU DROWN
I speak and you drown,muttering in the heavy rain.
Fear kidnapped you from life’s canopy and drowned you in the deep,
where even the hand of your God does not reach.
A sea rises within you in the rest home
in your ninety-second year
and a deluge courses through you. Oblivion
is the mother of all life.
© 2014, Lisa Katz
From: Beh-karov ahava
From: Beh-karov ahava
I SPEAK AND YOU DROWN
I speak and you drown,muttering in the heavy rain.
Fear kidnapped you from life’s canopy and drowned you in the deep,
where even the hand of your God does not reach.
A sea rises within you in the rest home
in your ninety-second year
and a deluge courses through you. Oblivion
is the mother of all life.
© 2014, Lisa Katz
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