Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Shimon Adaf

LULLABY



Father,
who always misses the target,
consumed by love like a match,
stooped over a book.
Stealthily,
November is poured into the air,
an awkward moon struck between the ribs of the street, droves
of mist trample in the dark.
When he spreads his hands open
on the slippery table,
in his cold and ruined sleep,
it’s hard to believe he crossed the sea and once beheld snow,
in the shrunken homes of Morocco,
toward the end of the forties,
the cradle of time.

שיר ערש

שיר ערש

אַבָּא,
לְעוֹלָם מַחְטִיא אֶת הַמַּטָּרָה,
אָכוּל בְּאַהֲבָה כְּמוֹ גַּפְרוּר,
גּוֹחֵן עַל סֵפֶר.
בְּהֶסְתֵּר,
נִמְסָךְ כִּסְלֵו בָּאֲוִיר,
יָרֵחַ מְגֻשָּׁם נֶחְבָּט בֵּין צַלְעוֹת הָרְחוֹב, עֶדְרֵי
עֲרָפֶל רוֹמְסִים בַּחֹשֶׁךְ.
כְּשֶׁהוּא פּוֹעֵר אֶת יָדָיו
עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן הַחֲמַקְמַק,
שְׁנָתוֹ הַקָּרָה וְהַגְּמוּרָה,,
קָשֶׁה לְהַאֲמִין שֶׁפַּעַם חָצָה אֶת הַיָּם וּפַעַם רָאָה שֶׁלֶג,
בַּבָּתִּים הַמְּכֻוָּצִים שֶׁל מָרוֹקוֹ,
סוּף שְׁנוֹת הָאַרְבָּעִים,
עֶרֶשׂ הַזְּמַן.
Close

LULLABY



Father,
who always misses the target,
consumed by love like a match,
stooped over a book.
Stealthily,
November is poured into the air,
an awkward moon struck between the ribs of the street, droves
of mist trample in the dark.
When he spreads his hands open
on the slippery table,
in his cold and ruined sleep,
it’s hard to believe he crossed the sea and once beheld snow,
in the shrunken homes of Morocco,
toward the end of the forties,
the cradle of time.

LULLABY



Father,
who always misses the target,
consumed by love like a match,
stooped over a book.
Stealthily,
November is poured into the air,
an awkward moon struck between the ribs of the street, droves
of mist trample in the dark.
When he spreads his hands open
on the slippery table,
in his cold and ruined sleep,
it’s hard to believe he crossed the sea and once beheld snow,
in the shrunken homes of Morocco,
toward the end of the forties,
the cradle of time.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère