Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Rita Kogan

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

I lost my fine motor skills in language
twenty-four years ago.
From my mother tongue remain
words for routine,
everyday sentences,
stock phrases for an absent presence.
In contrast, simple
conversational Hebrew
doesn’t slide down my throat.
I’m confused by the genitive case,
and words for storks and nightingales,
for stones and shuttlecocks.
I lost the logical basis of language
twenty-four years ago.
Agnon’s Hebrew,
daily Hebrew
are both foreign to me
bloodless and placeless.
I won’t distinguish between them,
I’ll prattle in both
to the wonder of others

like the character of the painter without hands
from a book I read in my childhood.
He sat at a busy junction
and drew with charcoal wielded by his toes
in front of spectators amazed in sweet horror.
No one but the author, Alexandra Brushtein,
looked at the painting,
the path that leads to the distance.

מוטוריקה ‬עדינה

מוטוריקה ‬עדינה

מוֹטוֹרִיקָה ‬עֲדִינָה ‬שֶׁל ‬שָׂפָה ‬אָבְדָה ‬לִי
לִפְנֵי ‬אַרְבַּע ‬וְעֶשְׂרִים ‬שָׁנָה.
מִלְּשׁוֹן ‬אִמִּי ‬נִשְׁתַּיְּרוּ ‬לִי
מִלִּים ‬לְשִׁגְרָה,‬
מִשְׁפָּטִים ‬לְיוֹם,‬
פִּסְקָאוֹת ‬לְהוֹוֶה ‬נִפְקָד.
לְעֻמָּתָהּ, ‬הָעִבְרִית ‬הַפְּשׁוּטָה
שֶׁל ‬דְּבַר ‬הַדִּבּוּר
לֹא ‬יָרְדָה ‬אֶל ‬גְּרוֹנִי.
אֵינִי ‬מַבְדִּילָה
בֵּין ‬מִלִּים ‬חֲסִידוֹת ‬לְמִלִּים ‬בֻּלְבּוּלִים,‬
בֵּין ‬מִלִּים ‬אֲבָנִים ‬לְמִלִּים ‬כַּדּוּרֵי ‬נוֹצָה.
הִגָּיוֹן ‬יְסוֹדִי ‬שֶׁל ‬שָׂפָה ‬אָבַד ‬לִי
לִפְנֵי ‬אַרְבַּע ‬וְעֶשְׂרִים ‬שָׁנָה.
הָעִבְרִית ‬שֶׁל ‬עַגְנוֹן,‬
הָעִבְרִית ‬שֶׁל ‬יוֹמְיוֹם
זָרוֹת ‬לִי ‬שְׁתֵּיהֶן
זָרוּת ‬דָּם ‬וּמָקוֹם.
לֹא ‬אַבְדִּיל ‬בֵּינֵיהֶן,‬
אֲלַהֵג ‬בִּשְׁתֵּיהֶן
עַל ‬אַף ‬תְּמִיהוֹת ‬הָמוֹן.

אֲנִי ‬בַּת ‬דְּמוּתוֹ ‬שֶׁל ‬צַיָּר ‬קְטוּעַ ‬יָדַיִם
מִסֵּפֶר ‬שֶׁהִרְבֵּיתִי ‬לִקְרֹא ‬בְּיַלְדוּתִי.
הוּא ‬הָיָה ‬יוֹשֵׁב ‬בְּצֹמֶת ‬הוֹמֶה
וּמְאַיֵּר ‬בְּפֶחָם ‬אָחוּז ‬בֵּין ‬בְּהוֹנוֹת ‬רַגְלָיו
נֹכַח ‬צוֹפִים ‬הַמִּשְׁתָּאִים ‬מֵאֵימָה ‬מְתוּקָה.
אִישׁ ‬מִלְּבַד ‬הַסּוֹפֶרֶת, ‬אָלֶכְּסַנְדְּרָה ‬בּוּרְשְׁטֵין,‬
לֹא ‬רָאָה ‬אֶת ‬הַצִּיּוּר,‬
אֶת ‬הַדֶּרֶךְ ‬הַהוֹלֶכֶת ‬לַמֶּרְחַקִּים.
 
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FINE MOTOR SKILLS

I lost my fine motor skills in language
twenty-four years ago.
From my mother tongue remain
words for routine,
everyday sentences,
stock phrases for an absent presence.
In contrast, simple
conversational Hebrew
doesn’t slide down my throat.
I’m confused by the genitive case,
and words for storks and nightingales,
for stones and shuttlecocks.
I lost the logical basis of language
twenty-four years ago.
Agnon’s Hebrew,
daily Hebrew
are both foreign to me
bloodless and placeless.
I won’t distinguish between them,
I’ll prattle in both
to the wonder of others

like the character of the painter without hands
from a book I read in my childhood.
He sat at a busy junction
and drew with charcoal wielded by his toes
in front of spectators amazed in sweet horror.
No one but the author, Alexandra Brushtein,
looked at the painting,
the path that leads to the distance.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

I lost my fine motor skills in language
twenty-four years ago.
From my mother tongue remain
words for routine,
everyday sentences,
stock phrases for an absent presence.
In contrast, simple
conversational Hebrew
doesn’t slide down my throat.
I’m confused by the genitive case,
and words for storks and nightingales,
for stones and shuttlecocks.
I lost the logical basis of language
twenty-four years ago.
Agnon’s Hebrew,
daily Hebrew
are both foreign to me
bloodless and placeless.
I won’t distinguish between them,
I’ll prattle in both
to the wonder of others

like the character of the painter without hands
from a book I read in my childhood.
He sat at a busy junction
and drew with charcoal wielded by his toes
in front of spectators amazed in sweet horror.
No one but the author, Alexandra Brushtein,
looked at the painting,
the path that leads to the distance.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère