Poem
Shulamit Apfel
BECAUSE
Since I didn’t show any signs that I knew how to read no one paid attention when I began to write. Neither of them was fluent in the language. He read only Polish. This was convenient because they both died without reading a line of what I wrote. Mother died during the Moscow Olympics. Father died during the Olympics in Los Angeles, and because I stayed awake, I suddenly had something to talk about to the men I met in the morning. My sister tried to break out of her grave during the Barcelona Olympics, the only death that nearly did me in. When everyone was gone and there was no one left to play with, I simply sat on the edge of the sidewalk until a neighbor called my mother and said: hey, your daughter’s nearly been run over, and my mother shouted at her and called her a liar.
© Translation: 2013, Lisa Katz
היות
היות
הֱיוֹת שֶׁלֹּא הֶרְאֵיתִי סִימָנִים שֶׁאֲנִי יוֹדַעַת לִקְרֹא אַף אֶחָד לֹא שָׂם לֵב שֶׁהִתְחַלְתִּי לִכְתֹּב. שְׁנֵיהֶם לֹא הָיוּ חָפְשִׁיִּים עִם הַשָּׂפָה. הוּא קָרָא רַק פּוֹלָנִית. זֶה הָיָה נוֹחַ כִּי הֵם מֵתוּ בְּלִי לִקְרֹא שׁוּרָה מִמַּה שֶׁכָּתַבְתִּי. אִמָּא מֵתָה כְּשֶׁהָיְתָה אוֹלִימְפְּיָאדָה בְּמוֹסְקְבָה וְהֵנִיחָה לִי. אַבָּא מֵת כְּשֶׁהָיְתָה אוֹלִימְפְּיָאדָה בְּלוֹס אַנְגֶּ'לֶס, וֶהֱיוֹת שֶׁנִּשְׁאַרְתִּי עֵרָה, הָיָה לִי לְפֶתַע עַל מַה לְדַבֵּר עִם גְּבָרִים, שֶׁיָּצָא לִי לִפְגֹּשׁ בַּבֹּקֶר. אֲחוֹתִי נִסְּתָה לִפְרֹץ אֶת קִבְרָהּ בְּאוֹלִימְפְּיָאדַת בַּרְצֶלוֹנָה, וּמוֹתָהּ הָיָה הַיָּחִיד שֶׁכִּמְעַט גָּמַר אוֹתִי. וּכְשֶׁכֻּלָּם נֶעֶלְמוּ וְלֹא נִשְׁאַר לִי עִם מִי לְשַׂחֵק, רַק יָשַׁבְתִּי עַל שְׂפַת הַמִּדְרָכָה, עַד שֶׁהַשְׁכֵנָה קָרְאָה לְאִמִּי וְאָמְרָה לָהּ: הֵי, הַיַּלְדָּה שֶׁלָּךְ כִּמְעַט נִדְרְסָה, וְאִמָּא שֶׁלִּי צָעְקָה עָלֶיהָ וְקָרְאָה לָהּ שַׁקְרָנִית.
© 2012, Shulamit Apfel
From: Pahot me-emet ain ta’am liktov
Publisher: Safra, Tel Aviv
From: Pahot me-emet ain ta’am liktov
Publisher: Safra, Tel Aviv
Poems
Poems of Shulamit Apfel
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BECAUSE
Since I didn’t show any signs that I knew how to read no one paid attention when I began to write. Neither of them was fluent in the language. He read only Polish. This was convenient because they both died without reading a line of what I wrote. Mother died during the Moscow Olympics. Father died during the Olympics in Los Angeles, and because I stayed awake, I suddenly had something to talk about to the men I met in the morning. My sister tried to break out of her grave during the Barcelona Olympics, the only death that nearly did me in. When everyone was gone and there was no one left to play with, I simply sat on the edge of the sidewalk until a neighbor called my mother and said: hey, your daughter’s nearly been run over, and my mother shouted at her and called her a liar.
© 2013, Lisa Katz
From: Pahot me-emet ain ta’am liktov
From: Pahot me-emet ain ta’am liktov
BECAUSE
Since I didn’t show any signs that I knew how to read no one paid attention when I began to write. Neither of them was fluent in the language. He read only Polish. This was convenient because they both died without reading a line of what I wrote. Mother died during the Moscow Olympics. Father died during the Olympics in Los Angeles, and because I stayed awake, I suddenly had something to talk about to the men I met in the morning. My sister tried to break out of her grave during the Barcelona Olympics, the only death that nearly did me in. When everyone was gone and there was no one left to play with, I simply sat on the edge of the sidewalk until a neighbor called my mother and said: hey, your daughter’s nearly been run over, and my mother shouted at her and called her a liar.
© 2013, Lisa Katz
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