Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Rita Kogan

TIME FOR PROOF

Which train will you put me on to prove I’m Jewish?
My toy train from childhood?
And what’s the destination to be –
A Ukrainian ghost town still oozing radiation?
A provincial town in Belarus, average-sized?
A marble tombstone tilted to one side, next to the granite banks of the Neva?
Would you ask me to count the dead from both sides?
Who by water?
Who by fire?
Who in the sunshine?
Who in the nighttime?
And a crown of Jewishness will be put on my head like a barbed wire tiara,
Like a mark of honor from citizen Cain,
So there: I’ve proved it.

שלב ‬ההוכחות

שלב ‬ההוכחות

עַל ‬אֵיזוֹ ‬רַכֶּבֶת ‬תָּשִׂימוּ ‬אוֹתִי ‬לְהוֹכִיחַ ‬אֶת ‬יַהֲדוּתִי?‬
קְרוֹן ‬צַעֲצוּעַ ‬שֶׁל ‬יַלְדוּתִי?‬
מָה ‬יִהְיֶה ‬יַעַד ‬נְסִיעָתִי?‬
עֲיָרַת ‬רְפָאִים ‬נוֹטֶפֶת ‬קְרִינָה ‬בְּאוּקְרָאִינָה?‬
עִיר ‬מָחוֹז ‬לֹא ‬גְּדוֹלָה-לֹא ‬קְטַנָּה ‬בְּרוּסְיָה ‬הַלְּבָנָה?‬
מַצֵּבַת ‬שַׁיִשׁ ‬נוֹטָה ‬עַל ‬צִדָּהּ ‬לְצַד ‬מַצֵּבוֹת ‬גְּרָנִיט ‬שֶׁל ‬נֵבָה?‬
תְּבַקְּשׁוּ ‬שֶׁאֶסְפֹּר ‬אֶת ‬הַמֵּתִים ‬מִשְּׁנֵי ‬הַצְּדָדִים?‬
מִי ‬בָּאֵשׁ?‬
וּמִי ‬בַּמַּיִם?‬
מִי ‬בַּיּוֹם?‬
וּמִי ‬בַּלַּיִל?‬
וְכֶתֶר ‬יַהֲדוּתִי ‬יֻנַּח ‬כְּמוֹ ‬נֵזֶר ‬חוּט ‬תַּיִל,‬
אוֹת ‬כָּבוֹד ‬מִידֵי ‬הָאֶזְרָח ‬קַיִן,‬
וְהוּכַחְתִּי.
 
 
Close

TIME FOR PROOF

Which train will you put me on to prove I’m Jewish?
My toy train from childhood?
And what’s the destination to be –
A Ukrainian ghost town still oozing radiation?
A provincial town in Belarus, average-sized?
A marble tombstone tilted to one side, next to the granite banks of the Neva?
Would you ask me to count the dead from both sides?
Who by water?
Who by fire?
Who in the sunshine?
Who in the nighttime?
And a crown of Jewishness will be put on my head like a barbed wire tiara,
Like a mark of honor from citizen Cain,
So there: I’ve proved it.

TIME FOR PROOF

Which train will you put me on to prove I’m Jewish?
My toy train from childhood?
And what’s the destination to be –
A Ukrainian ghost town still oozing radiation?
A provincial town in Belarus, average-sized?
A marble tombstone tilted to one side, next to the granite banks of the Neva?
Would you ask me to count the dead from both sides?
Who by water?
Who by fire?
Who in the sunshine?
Who in the nighttime?
And a crown of Jewishness will be put on my head like a barbed wire tiara,
Like a mark of honor from citizen Cain,
So there: I’ve proved it.
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