NIGHT OF WAR 6

 
On the Sabbath I woke in fear.
A special kind of fear: Petrol-air bombs. Okay,
to die by gas, but I don’t want to burn up in flames.
 
I’ve begun to weigh what to take and save from my home,
where will I take refuge, and with whom,
where can I send my writings abroad
so that they may be saved.
 
Then my neighbor Yossef came down.
We drank a morning toast in honor
of the continuation of the War of Independence
and the explosion from the Hassan Bak Mosque.
I’ll hang on here by my fingernails.
 
But to be sure I opened the talisman,
the Bible, the Jewish book of questions and answers.
Shall I flee, I asked. He answered:
“Be honored and remain in thy home, Wherefore
shalt thou tempt in evil and
fall together with Judah.” In joy I kissed it
and went out to the pub.
 
I ate and drank. But through the haze
of alcohol no one noticed
that I said “Shechiyanu” and added in my heart,
“The Lord, Neve Tsedek, and the hope of my fathers, the Lord.”
 

ליל מלחמה 6

ליל מלחמה 6