Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Almog Behar

JERUSALEM SHUTS HER HEART

Jerusalem shuts her heart to herself

wraps herself in tall watchtowers

she makes a wall

between herself and the eyes of the people.

Night after night

after sunset

she sets out in a heavy robe

and checks that all the gates are closed,

as all the inhabitants are imprisoned,

and places locks on the trees.

And one woman

ascends from the desert screaming

banging on the stones in the wall

crying out that which is in her heart:

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
let us lodge in the villages.

Let us get up early to the vineyards.
Jerusalem slept and her heart did not wake.

And that woman

lifts heavy iron keys

to the locks

and her screams wake the uniformed guards

patrolling the city
who strike her flesh and bruise her skin

tear her garment

night after night.

Night after night before the moon sets

the Divine goes out to the Mount of Dissension

leaping over the wall and running off with it

to the slopes of the desert

to the coastal plain

far from the shuttered city

and the guards.

ירושלים סוגרת את לבה

ירושלים סוגרת את לבה

ירושלים סוגרת את לבה מעצמה
מתעטפת במגדלי שמירה גבוהים   
מקימה חומה
בינה  ובין עיניי האנשים.
 
לילה לילה
אחרי שקיעת החמה
היא יוצאת בשלמה כבדה
ומוודאת כי כל שעריה סגורים
כי כל יושביה אסורים
ומניחה על העצים מנעולים.

ואישה אחת
עולה מן המדבר בצעקות
מִדַפּקת על אבני החומה
קוראת בוכה את שעל לבה:
"לכה דודי נצא הַעיר
נלינה בַּכפרים נשכימה לַכרמים"
וירושלים ישנה ולבה לא מתעורר.

והאישה האחת
מגישה מפתחות ברזל כבדים
אל כפות המנעולים
וצעקותיה מעירות את השומרים
הסובבים בַעיר הלבוּשים מדים
המכים בשרה פוצעים עורה
קורעים שלמתה
לילה לילה.

לילה לילה לפני שקיעת הלבנה
יוצא האלוהים את הר המריבה
מדלג על החומה ובורח עמה
אל מורדות המדבר
אל שפלת הים
הרחק מן העיר הסגורה
והשומרים.
 
Close

JERUSALEM SHUTS HER HEART

Jerusalem shuts her heart to herself

wraps herself in tall watchtowers

she makes a wall

between herself and the eyes of the people.

Night after night

after sunset

she sets out in a heavy robe

and checks that all the gates are closed,

as all the inhabitants are imprisoned,

and places locks on the trees.

And one woman

ascends from the desert screaming

banging on the stones in the wall

crying out that which is in her heart:

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
let us lodge in the villages.

Let us get up early to the vineyards.
Jerusalem slept and her heart did not wake.

And that woman

lifts heavy iron keys

to the locks

and her screams wake the uniformed guards

patrolling the city
who strike her flesh and bruise her skin

tear her garment

night after night.

Night after night before the moon sets

the Divine goes out to the Mount of Dissension

leaping over the wall and running off with it

to the slopes of the desert

to the coastal plain

far from the shuttered city

and the guards.

JERUSALEM SHUTS HER HEART

Jerusalem shuts her heart to herself

wraps herself in tall watchtowers

she makes a wall

between herself and the eyes of the people.

Night after night

after sunset

she sets out in a heavy robe

and checks that all the gates are closed,

as all the inhabitants are imprisoned,

and places locks on the trees.

And one woman

ascends from the desert screaming

banging on the stones in the wall

crying out that which is in her heart:

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
let us lodge in the villages.

Let us get up early to the vineyards.
Jerusalem slept and her heart did not wake.

And that woman

lifts heavy iron keys

to the locks

and her screams wake the uniformed guards

patrolling the city
who strike her flesh and bruise her skin

tear her garment

night after night.

Night after night before the moon sets

the Divine goes out to the Mount of Dissension

leaping over the wall and running off with it

to the slopes of the desert

to the coastal plain

far from the shuttered city

and the guards.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère