Poem
Shulamit Apfel
DON’T ASK
Don’t ask if I’m writing,
it’s none of your business. You were the reason
for the escape into metaphors,
for despair.
It’s possible to make a mistake, to think
that your husband had discovered
you’d secretly
gained control of me.
And when I couldn’t take it
any longer
the desire to be buried
was mine.
© Translation: 2013, Lisa Katz
אל תשאלי
אל תשאלי
אַל תִּשְׁאֲלִי אִם אֲנִי כּוֹתֶבֶת
לא עִנְיָנֵךְ. אַתְּ הָיִית הָסִבָּה
לַבְּרִיחָה אֶל הָמֶטָפוֹרוֹת
הֲסִיבָּה לַיֵאוּשׁ הָיִית
אֶפְשָׁר לִטְעוֹת וְלַחֲשׁוֹב
שְׁאָרַב לָךְ בַּעַל
שְׁבִּצַרְתְּ בַּחֲשָׁאִיוּת כָּזוֹ
אֶת חֶזְקָתֵךְ עָלַי
וּכְשֶׁלֹא יָכֹלְתִּי עוֹד
לְהָכִיל אוֹתָךְ
הַמִשְׁאָלָה לְהִיקָּבֶר
הָיְיתָה שֶׁלִּי
© 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
Close
DON’T ASK
Don’t ask if I’m writing,
it’s none of your business. You were the reason
for the escape into metaphors,
for despair.
It’s possible to make a mistake, to think
that your husband had discovered
you’d secretly
gained control of me.
And when I couldn’t take it
any longer
the desire to be buried
was mine.
© 2013, Lisa Katz
From: Pahot me-emet ain ta’am liktov
From: Pahot me-emet ain ta’am liktov
DON’T ASK
Don’t ask if I’m writing,
it’s none of your business. You were the reason
for the escape into metaphors,
for despair.
It’s possible to make a mistake, to think
that your husband had discovered
you’d secretly
gained control of me.
And when I couldn’t take it
any longer
the desire to be buried
was mine.
© 2013, Lisa Katz
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