The poem below came my way this morning. In these States, we often hear that
the questioning and opposition to Israeli policies by Israelis is much more
vigorous than most
of what we experience in this country where much of the the opposition and
discussion gets vanquished
by x, y and z forces. But without rehearsing the reasons for all that, here
is as the note with the poem goes on to say:
Recent poem by Aharon Shabtai, an Israeli poet. A few years back
New Directions published translations of earlier poems in a collection
called J'ACCUSE.
________________________________________________
FAILURE
1
I pray
for the failure
of this
stinking war
spread your wings
and come, merciful failure
come
(16 July 2006)
2
Planes
rattle
toward Lebanon
diving
toward Ba'albak
to destroy
a bottle factory
3
I pray
that the plane
with a bomb in its belly
will be beaten
by the building's ceiling
4
In the name of the beautiful
books I've read-
in the name of the kisses
I've kissed-
may the army be vanquished
5
The Gauleiter
of Lebanon
has already promised
to establish
military rule
6
When the tanks
reach the Litani
grenades will be thrown
at them from the Ebro's banks
7
In this war
I'm for
the villages
for the mosques
8
In this war
I'm for
the Shi'ite family
for Tyre
9
for the mother
the grandfather
for the eight
kids in the minivan
for the white
silk kerchief
10
Ruff ruff ruff
ruff ruff ruff
barks Olmert
11
Ruff ruff ruff
ruff ruff ruff
barks Ramon
(the minister of justice)
12
The odor of failure
wafts from the mouth
the stink
of war from the tongue
13
Israelis strong
the sign shouts
from the newspaper building
spurring the diners on
toward Chimichanga.*
____________
* A fancy Mexican restaurant in Tel Aviv
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