Strings Attached

SHALOM

Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give to you,
not as the world gives;
do not be afraid.

THE SNOW

O snow, which sinks so light,
Brown earth is hid from sight
O soul, be thou as white as snow,
O snow, which falls so slow,
Dear earth quite warm below;
O heart, so keep thy glow
Beneath the snow.

O snow, in thy soft grave
Sad flow'rs the winter brave;
O heart, so sooth and save,
as does the snow.
The snow must melt, must go,
Fast, fast as water flow.
Not thus, my soul, O sow
Thy gifts to fade like snow.

O snow, thou'rt white no more,
Thy sparkling too, is o'er;
O soul, be as before,
Was bright the snow.
Then as the snow all pure,
O heart be, but endure;
Through all the years full sure,
Not as the snow.

DARK FIELD, EVENING

The moon drops one or two feathers into the fields.
The dark wheat listens.
Be still.
Now.
There they are, the moon's young, trying
Their wings.
Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow
Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone
Wholly, into the air.
I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe
Or move.
I listen.
The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,
And I lean toward mine.

THE SECRET

Two girls discover
the secret of life
in a sudden line of
poetry.

I who don't know the
secret wrote
the line. They
told me

(through a third person)
they had found it
but not what it was
not even

what line it was. No doubt
by now, more than a week
later, they have forgotten
the secret,

the line, the name of
the poem. I love them
for finding what
I can't find,

and for loving me
for the line I wrote,
and for forgetting it
so that

a thousand times, till death
finds them, they may
discover it again, in other
lines

in other
happenings. And for
wanting to know it,
for

assuming there is
such a secret, yes,
for that
most of all.

YVER, VOUS N'ESTES QU'UN VILLAIN

Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain;
Esté est plaisant et gentil,
En tesmoing de May et d'Avril
Qui l'accompaignent soir et main.

Esté revest champs, bois et fleurs,
De sa livrée de verdure
Et de maintes autres couleurs,
Par l'ordonnance de Nature.

Mais vous, Yver, trop estes plain
De nège, vent, pluye et grézil;
On vous deust banir en éxil.
Sans point flater, je parle plain.

WINTER, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A ROGUE

Winter, you are nothing but a rogue;
Summer is pleasant and kind,
As May and April can testify,
Accompanying it each eve and morn.

Summer clothes fields, woods and flowers
With his verdant livery,
And many other colours too,
As nature commands.

But you, Winter, you exude
Snow, wind, rain and hail;
You ought to be exiled.
Winter, you are nothing but a rogue.

FIVE HEBREW LOVE SONGS

Hila Plitmann (b.1973)

I. TEMUNÁ (A PICTURE)

Temuná belibí charuntá;
Nodédet beyn ór uveyn ófel:
Min dmamá shekazó et guféch kach otá,
Usaréch al pańa'ich kach nófel.

A picture is engraved in my heart;
Moving between light and darkness:
A sort of silence envelopes your body,
And your hair falls upon your face just so

II. KALÁ KALLÁ (LIGHT BRIDE)

Kalá kallá
Kulá shelí,
U've kalút
Tishákhílí!

Light bride
She is all mine,
And lightly
She will kiss me!

III. LARÓV (MOSTLY)

"Laróv," amár gag la'shama'im,
"Hamerchák shebeynéynu hu ad;
Ach lifnéy zman alu lechán shna'im,
Uveynéynu nishár sentiméter echad"

*"Mostly," said the roof to the sky,
"the distance between you and I is endlessness;
But a while ago two came up here,
And only one centimeter was left between us." *

IV. ÉYZE SHÉLEG! (WHAT SNOW!)

Ézye shéleg!
Kmo chalomót ktaníim
Noflím mehashamá im.

What snow!
Like little dreams
Falling from the sky.

V. RAKÚT (TENDERNESS)

Hu hayá malé rakút;
Hi haytá kasha
Vechól káma shenistá lehishaér kach,
Pashút, uvlí sibá tová,
Lakách otá el toch atzmó,
Veheníach Bamakóm hachí rach.

He was full of tenderness;
She was very hard.
And as much as she tried to stay thus,
Simply, and with no good reason,
He took her into himself,
And set her down
In the softest, softest place.

CRADLE HYMN

Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber,
Holy angels guard thy bed!
Heav'nly blessings without number
Gently falling on thy head.

See the kindly shepherds round Him,
Telling wonders from the sky!
Where they sought Him, there they found Him,
With His Virgin mother by.

See the lovely babe addressing;
Lovely infant, how he smiled!
When he wept, the mother's blessing
Soothed and hushed the Holy Child.

May'st thou live to know and fear him,
Trust and love him all thy days;
Then go dwell for ever near him,
See his face, and sing his praise!

ANGEL ALLELUIAS

Alleluia, Alleluia
When Christ was born of maid Mary, Alleluia
Angels sung there with mirth and glee, Alleluia
Some shepherds saw those angels bright, Alleluia
To them appeared with glorious light, Alleluia
And said, "God's Son is born tonight!" Alleluia
This king hast come to save His kind, Alleluia
In holy scripture as we find, Alleluia
Therefore this song we have in mind: Alleluia
Then, dearest Lord, for Thy great grace, Alleluia
Grant us the bliss to see Thy face, Alleluia
Where we may sing with all the human race: Alleluia

BRIGHTEST AND BEST

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!
Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and off'rings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;
Richer by far is the heart's adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.