Poem
Tamir Greenberg
HEROIN - EPILOGUE
And so, despite my promise, I’ve abandoned you.You who were so dear to me, I’ve turned you out.
Eight hundred shekels I slipped in for you.
On March 9th I closed the door and slid the bolt.
Still I don’t regret it. No. No. I don’t.
Not all the money wasted, nor the hours,
Every day with you was a lesson in delight,
In the total love of now without tomorrow.
And our parting too was a kind of compulsion,
As bitter and cruel a choice as ever was.
What I want is to live. Life, not illusion.
Body and soul happy in their essence.
I do not want tranquility or mindlessness,
The sweetness to be had from a pill or magic drop.
I gave up hoping, my gentle pleading useless,
Wearied by the long wait for taxis from Lod.
And so – why can I never sleep, tired as I am?
With no whisper of my breathing, are your nights also bad?
Relief, pangs of conscience, and love’s fierce flame
Are very soon going to drive me mad.
© Translation: 2006, Jennie Feldman
הרואין – אחרית
הרואין – אחרית
© 2006, Tamir Greenberg
Poems
Poems of Tamir Greenberg
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HEROIN - EPILOGUE
And so, despite my promise, I’ve abandoned you.You who were so dear to me, I’ve turned you out.
Eight hundred shekels I slipped in for you.
On March 9th I closed the door and slid the bolt.
Still I don’t regret it. No. No. I don’t.
Not all the money wasted, nor the hours,
Every day with you was a lesson in delight,
In the total love of now without tomorrow.
And our parting too was a kind of compulsion,
As bitter and cruel a choice as ever was.
What I want is to live. Life, not illusion.
Body and soul happy in their essence.
I do not want tranquility or mindlessness,
The sweetness to be had from a pill or magic drop.
I gave up hoping, my gentle pleading useless,
Wearied by the long wait for taxis from Lod.
And so – why can I never sleep, tired as I am?
With no whisper of my breathing, are your nights also bad?
Relief, pangs of conscience, and love’s fierce flame
Are very soon going to drive me mad.
© 2006, Jennie Feldman
HEROIN - EPILOGUE
And so, despite my promise, I’ve abandoned you.You who were so dear to me, I’ve turned you out.
Eight hundred shekels I slipped in for you.
On March 9th I closed the door and slid the bolt.
Still I don’t regret it. No. No. I don’t.
Not all the money wasted, nor the hours,
Every day with you was a lesson in delight,
In the total love of now without tomorrow.
And our parting too was a kind of compulsion,
As bitter and cruel a choice as ever was.
What I want is to live. Life, not illusion.
Body and soul happy in their essence.
I do not want tranquility or mindlessness,
The sweetness to be had from a pill or magic drop.
I gave up hoping, my gentle pleading useless,
Wearied by the long wait for taxis from Lod.
And so – why can I never sleep, tired as I am?
With no whisper of my breathing, are your nights also bad?
Relief, pangs of conscience, and love’s fierce flame
Are very soon going to drive me mad.
© 2006, Jennie Feldman
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