It is summer in autumn in Israel by Joseph Shutman

 


It is summer in autumn in Israel.
But the sky is a little bit darker
And the trees are so bright and not miserable,
But the fall sun is certainly milder.

Why inside all this fall pastoral
Are airplanes, heavy tanks everywhere?
Burning smell and explosions are…
Maybe I hear the voice of my friend?

He had fallen and whispered to me
But he managed to say only: “Shma…”*
And I doubt if great Lord could hear,
And my friend maybe whispered just: “Mom”?

Weightless evergreen needles don’t chase,
They as days of unliving lives spin.
And through smoky terrible haze –
Only guys who have lost that night meal.

They have missed their homemade cake
When the Judgment Day ended at all.
And the burden of heavy mistake
Fell on premier’s** uncompromised soul.

And in autumn in Israel pines
Something whisper in woods tete-à-tete.
Try to ask a few questions sometimes,
Wait for answers as wait for the rain…

And the autumn is coming again…


Translated into English by Frieda Shutman


* The beginning of the prayer in Hebrew.
** Golda Meir was an Israeli premier then.