Yehuda Amichai
On Rabbi Kook's Street
On Rabbi Kook’s Street I walk without this good man A streiml he wore for prayer A silk top hat he wore to govern, Fly in the wind of the dead Above me, float
I Have Become Very Hairy
I have become very hairy all over my body. I’m afraid they’ll start hunting me because of my fur. My multicolored shirt has no meaning of love It looks like an air photo of
Wildpeace
Not the peace of a cease-fire Not even the vision of the wolf and the lamb, But rather As in the heart when the excitement is over And you can talk only about a
Quick And Bitter
The end was quick and bitter. Slow and sweet was the time between us, Slow and sweet were the nights When my hands did not touch one another in despair but in the love
Try To Remember Some Details
Try to remember some details. Remember the clothing Of the one you love So that on the day of loss you’ll be able to say: last seen Wearing such-and-such, brown jacket, white hat. Try
I Want To Die In My Own Bed
All night the army came up from Gilgal To get to the killing field, and that’s all. In the ground, warf and woof, lay the dead. I want to die in My own bed.
God Full Of Mercy
God-Full-of-Mercy, the prayer for the dead. If God was not full of mercy, Mercy would have been in the world, Not just in Him. I, who plucked flowers in the hills And looked down
You Mustn't Show Weakness
You mustn’t show weakness And you’ve got to have a tan. But sometimes I feel like the thin veils Of Jewish women who faint At weddings and on Yom Kippur. You mustn’t show weakness
Once A Great Love
Once a great love cut my life in two. The first part goes on twisting At some other place like a snake cut in two. The passing years have calmed me And brought healing
Before
Before the gate has been closed, Before the last quetion is posed, Before I am transposed. Before the weeds fill the gardens, Before there are no pardons, Before the concrete hardens. Before all the
Of Three Or Four In The Room
Out of three or four in the room One is always standing at the window. Forced to see the injustice amongst the thorns, The fires on the hills. And people who left whole Are
Half The People In The World
Half the people in the world love the other half, half the people hate the other half. Must I because of this half and that half go wandering and changing ceaselessly like rain in
Ein Yahav
A night drive to Ein Yahav in the Arava Desert, A drive in the rain. Yes, in the rain. There I met people who grow date palms, There I saw tamarisk trees and risk
Temporary Poem Of My Time
Hebrew writing and Arabic writing go from east to west, Latin writing, from west to east. Languages are like cats: You must not stroke their hair the wrong way. The clouds come from the
Jerusalem
On a roof in the Old City Laundry hanging in the late afternoon sunlight: The white sheet of a woman who is my enemy, The towel of a man who is my enemy, To