Tear your eyes away from the grey news stream
Sit on the floor and weep, and moan, and keen
At the sheer horror, obscene.
For there, where once a flower bloomed in the field,
A girl’s body lies, forlorn
And where an infant clapped its hands in glee
Blood-spattered dolls strewn between the ruined walls
Wail without a sound, without a voice
And wait for someone to hear them…
Forge your pain, your heart, forever
To that fence, that watchtower
That should have protected them
From the slaughter.
You - swear your ancient oath, be now their voice:
Sevenfold.
Steel and iron, cold and hard and dumb
Forge your heart, oh man – and come!
Ch. N Bialik, “In the City of Slaughter”
Ber Kotlerman (born 1971) Born in Russia, now lives Israel
Translated by Jessica Kirzane
Source: In Geveb
Sit on the floor and weep, and moan, and keen
At the sheer horror, obscene.
For there, where once a flower bloomed in the field,
A girl’s body lies, forlorn
And where an infant clapped its hands in glee
Blood-spattered dolls strewn between the ruined walls
Wail without a sound, without a voice
And wait for someone to hear them…
Forge your pain, your heart, forever
To that fence, that watchtower
That should have protected them
From the slaughter.
You - swear your ancient oath, be now their voice:
Sevenfold.
Steel and iron, cold and hard and dumb
Forge your heart, oh man – and come!
Ch. N Bialik, “In the City of Slaughter”
Ber Kotlerman (born 1971) Born in Russia, now lives Israel
Translated by Jessica Kirzane
Source: In Geveb
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