Poem
Rita Kogan
TIME FOR PROOF
Which train will you put me on to prove I’m Jewish?My toy train from childhood?
And what’s the destination to be –
A Ukrainian ghost town still oozing radiation?
A provincial town in Belarus, average-sized?
A marble tombstone tilted to one side, next to the granite banks of the Neva?
Would you ask me to count the dead from both sides?
Who by water?
Who by fire?
Who in the sunshine?
Who in the nighttime?
And a crown of Jewishness will be put on my head like a barbed wire tiara,
Like a mark of honor from citizen Cain,
So there: I’ve proved it.
© Translation: 2019, Alex Moshkin and Zackary Sholem Berger
שלב ההוכחות
שלב ההוכחות
עַל אֵיזוֹ רַכֶּבֶת תָּשִׂימוּ אוֹתִי לְהוֹכִיחַ אֶת יַהֲדוּתִי?
קְרוֹן צַעֲצוּעַ שֶׁל יַלְדוּתִי?
מָה יִהְיֶה יַעַד נְסִיעָתִי?
עֲיָרַת רְפָאִים נוֹטֶפֶת קְרִינָה בְּאוּקְרָאִינָה?
עִיר מָחוֹז לֹא גְּדוֹלָה-לֹא קְטַנָּה בְּרוּסְיָה הַלְּבָנָה?
מַצֵּבַת שַׁיִשׁ נוֹטָה עַל צִדָּהּ לְצַד מַצֵּבוֹת גְּרָנִיט שֶׁל נֵבָה?
תְּבַקְּשׁוּ שֶׁאֶסְפֹּר אֶת הַמֵּתִים מִשְּׁנֵי הַצְּדָדִים?
מִי בָּאֵשׁ?
וּמִי בַּמַּיִם?
מִי בַּיּוֹם?
וּמִי בַּלַּיִל?
וְכֶתֶר יַהֲדוּתִי יֻנַּח כְּמוֹ נֵזֶר חוּט תַּיִל,
אוֹת כָּבוֹד מִידֵי הָאֶזְרָח קַיִן,
וְהוּכַחְתִּי.
קְרוֹן צַעֲצוּעַ שֶׁל יַלְדוּתִי?
מָה יִהְיֶה יַעַד נְסִיעָתִי?
עֲיָרַת רְפָאִים נוֹטֶפֶת קְרִינָה בְּאוּקְרָאִינָה?
עִיר מָחוֹז לֹא גְּדוֹלָה-לֹא קְטַנָּה בְּרוּסְיָה הַלְּבָנָה?
מַצֵּבַת שַׁיִשׁ נוֹטָה עַל צִדָּהּ לְצַד מַצֵּבוֹת גְּרָנִיט שֶׁל נֵבָה?
תְּבַקְּשׁוּ שֶׁאֶסְפֹּר אֶת הַמֵּתִים מִשְּׁנֵי הַצְּדָדִים?
מִי בָּאֵשׁ?
וּמִי בַּמַּיִם?
מִי בַּיּוֹם?
וּמִי בַּלַּיִל?
וְכֶתֶר יַהֲדוּתִי יֻנַּח כְּמוֹ נֵזֶר חוּט תַּיִל,
אוֹת כָּבוֹד מִידֵי הָאֶזְרָח קַיִן,
וְהוּכַחְתִּי.
© 2018, Rita Kogan
From: Suss beh-hatsa-eet/A Horse in a Skirt
Publisher: Iton 77, Tel Aviv
From: Suss beh-hatsa-eet/A Horse in a Skirt
Publisher: Iton 77, Tel Aviv
Poems
Poems of Rita Kogan
Close
TIME FOR PROOF
Which train will you put me on to prove I’m Jewish?My toy train from childhood?
And what’s the destination to be –
A Ukrainian ghost town still oozing radiation?
A provincial town in Belarus, average-sized?
A marble tombstone tilted to one side, next to the granite banks of the Neva?
Would you ask me to count the dead from both sides?
Who by water?
Who by fire?
Who in the sunshine?
Who in the nighttime?
And a crown of Jewishness will be put on my head like a barbed wire tiara,
Like a mark of honor from citizen Cain,
So there: I’ve proved it.
© 2019, Alex Moshkin and Zackary Sholem Berger
From: Suss beh-hatsa-eet/A Horse in a Skirt
From: Suss beh-hatsa-eet/A Horse in a Skirt
TIME FOR PROOF
Which train will you put me on to prove I’m Jewish?My toy train from childhood?
And what’s the destination to be –
A Ukrainian ghost town still oozing radiation?
A provincial town in Belarus, average-sized?
A marble tombstone tilted to one side, next to the granite banks of the Neva?
Would you ask me to count the dead from both sides?
Who by water?
Who by fire?
Who in the sunshine?
Who in the nighttime?
And a crown of Jewishness will be put on my head like a barbed wire tiara,
Like a mark of honor from citizen Cain,
So there: I’ve proved it.
© 2019, Alex Moshkin and Zackary Sholem Berger
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