Poem
Dvora Amir
HOW MANY WINDOWS DOES A PERSON NEED
How many windows does a person need to open himself,so he won’t be like Captain Nemo, trapped in the webs of length
and width coordinates
hunted by his world. Among navigation instruments, “moving
within the moveable base,”
closed in, as if saying let the world come through my porthole,
let it accustom itself to me.
And on his eyes he put patches made of glass to keep tears
from pouring to the light.
He too needed several windows to save his life.
A tiny slit, a teeny gate to look through, and from the inside out.
Like Jonah in the belly of the whale, in the closing darkness
he saw a sparkling pearl,
pressed up against the fish’s pupil like an old man to the
keyhole in his door.
He saw flowing water moving towards him, and knew: the fish as well as the various creatures of the sea
like him live their lives in a trap,
and he heard his mouth tell his ears, I am alive.
© Translation: 1991, Linda Zisquit
From: Modern Hebrew Literature No. 6
Publisher: Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Ramat Gan, 1991
From: Modern Hebrew Literature No. 6
Publisher: Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Ramat Gan, 1991
HOW MANY WINDOWS DOES A PERSON NEED
From: Be’ira itit (Slow Burning)
Publisher: Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, Tel Aviv
Publisher: Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, Tel Aviv
Poems
Poems of Dvora Amir
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HOW MANY WINDOWS DOES A PERSON NEED
How many windows does a person need to open himself,so he won’t be like Captain Nemo, trapped in the webs of length
and width coordinates
hunted by his world. Among navigation instruments, “moving
within the moveable base,”
closed in, as if saying let the world come through my porthole,
let it accustom itself to me.
And on his eyes he put patches made of glass to keep tears
from pouring to the light.
He too needed several windows to save his life.
A tiny slit, a teeny gate to look through, and from the inside out.
Like Jonah in the belly of the whale, in the closing darkness
he saw a sparkling pearl,
pressed up against the fish’s pupil like an old man to the
keyhole in his door.
He saw flowing water moving towards him, and knew: the fish as well as the various creatures of the sea
like him live their lives in a trap,
and he heard his mouth tell his ears, I am alive.
© 1991, Linda Zisquit
From: Modern Hebrew Literature No. 6
Publisher: 1991, Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Ramat Gan
From: Modern Hebrew Literature No. 6
Publisher: 1991, Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Ramat Gan
HOW MANY WINDOWS DOES A PERSON NEED
How many windows does a person need to open himself,so he won’t be like Captain Nemo, trapped in the webs of length
and width coordinates
hunted by his world. Among navigation instruments, “moving
within the moveable base,”
closed in, as if saying let the world come through my porthole,
let it accustom itself to me.
And on his eyes he put patches made of glass to keep tears
from pouring to the light.
He too needed several windows to save his life.
A tiny slit, a teeny gate to look through, and from the inside out.
Like Jonah in the belly of the whale, in the closing darkness
he saw a sparkling pearl,
pressed up against the fish’s pupil like an old man to the
keyhole in his door.
He saw flowing water moving towards him, and knew: the fish as well as the various creatures of the sea
like him live their lives in a trap,
and he heard his mouth tell his ears, I am alive.
© 1991, Linda Zisquit
From: Modern Hebrew Literature No. 6
Publisher: 1991, Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Ramat Gan
From: Modern Hebrew Literature No. 6
Publisher: 1991, Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Ramat Gan
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