We reflected at length. Light flooded
the forehead's rectangle, the eyes, the eyebrows. We asked
the same questions and were answered
as always. Winter arrived
and saddened us. From others
we asked nothing and from ourselves
we asked only little. But we grasped
that daylight is not hostile and that night
is only a passing nuisance. Rain came
and silenced the tune. We turned on the radio,
dimmed the lights, and quietly dove
into dark and shadowy abysses. The hairy creature
awoke in us. Man is the sole
goal of all creation. And so
woman found us. We were
hard and festive until nightfall.
Why did light flood the eyes, eyebrows,
the forehead's rectangle, the back, the body. The rain
why did it come, and how would you explain
that we passed underneath and did not sink.
Translated from the Hebrew by Tsipi Keller
-From the book "Language For A New Century Contemporary Poetry From The Middle East, Asia, And Beyond" Edited by Tina Chang, Nathalie Handal & Ravi Shankar
For more information about David Avidan & other poems:
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| "David Avidan", painting by Yael-Shahar Sarid, 1994 |
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