Poem
Ayat Abou Shmeiss
If I were a Jewish mother
If I were a Jewish motherAnd I needed to send
My son to the army
I would fight
I would bind
My tongue to his ears
I would glue my hands
To his legs
I would hang my heart
On his eyes
Just so he wouldn’t go
© Translation: 2019, Talia Winston
The translator, in 2019 a first-year student in the Foreign Languages and Literature department of Ben Gurion University, has chosen to substitute current language – "glue" – for a word in the poem that brings to mind Psalm 137 ("By the Rivers of Babylon"): "Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth"
תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי "If I were a Jewish mother" has been chosen "most significant Israeli poem of the decade" by Haaretz poetry columnist Ilan Berkowitz. 3 January 2020
If I were a Jewish mother
אִם הָיִיתִי אִמָּא יְהוּדִיָּה
וְהָיִיתִי צְרִיכָה לִשְׁלֹחַ
אֶת בְּנִי לַצָּבָא
הָיִיתִי נִלְחֶמֶת
הָיִיתִי קוֹשֶׁרֶת
אֶת לְשׁוֹנִי לְאָזְנָיו
הָיִיתִי מַדְבִּיקָה אֶת יָדַי
לְרַגְלָיו
הָיִיתִי תּוֹלָה אֶת לִבִּי
עַל עֵינָיו
שֶׁלֹּא יֵלֵךְ
וְהָיִיתִי צְרִיכָה לִשְׁלֹחַ
אֶת בְּנִי לַצָּבָא
הָיִיתִי נִלְחֶמֶת
הָיִיתִי קוֹשֶׁרֶת
אֶת לְשׁוֹנִי לְאָזְנָיו
הָיִיתִי מַדְבִּיקָה אֶת יָדַי
לְרַגְלָיו
הָיִיתִי תּוֹלָה אֶת לִבִּי
עַל עֵינָיו
שֶׁלֹּא יֵלֵךְ
© 2018, Ayat Abou Shmeiss
From: Ani zeh shenayam/I am Two
Publisher: Mitan, Tel Aviv
From: Ani zeh shenayam/I am Two
Publisher: Mitan, Tel Aviv
Poems
Poems of Ayat Abou Shmeiss
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If I were a Jewish mother
If I were a Jewish motherAnd I needed to send
My son to the army
I would fight
I would bind
My tongue to his ears
I would glue my hands
To his legs
I would hang my heart
On his eyes
Just so he wouldn’t go
© 2019, Talia Winston
From: Ani zeh shenayam/I am Two
The translator, in 2019 a first-year student in the Foreign Languages and Literature department of Ben Gurion University, has chosen to substitute current language – "glue" – for a word in the poem that brings to mind Psalm 137 ("By the Rivers of Babylon"): "Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth"
תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי "If I were a Jewish mother" has been chosen "most significant Israeli poem of the decade" by Haaretz poetry columnist Ilan Berkowitz. 3 January 2020
From: Ani zeh shenayam/I am Two
If I were a Jewish mother
If I were a Jewish motherAnd I needed to send
My son to the army
I would fight
I would bind
My tongue to his ears
I would glue my hands
To his legs
I would hang my heart
On his eyes
Just so he wouldn’t go
© 2019, Talia Winston
The translator, in 2019 a first-year student in the Foreign Languages and Literature department of Ben Gurion University, has chosen to substitute current language – "glue" – for a word in the poem that brings to mind Psalm 137 ("By the Rivers of Babylon"): "Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth"
תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי "If I were a Jewish mother" has been chosen "most significant Israeli poem of the decade" by Haaretz poetry columnist Ilan Berkowitz. 3 January 2020
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