Aryeh Sivan: “To Live in the Land of Israel”

TO LIVE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL

To the memory of Zvi Hurvitz:
Pioneer, commander, and bereaved father.

To be cocked like a rifle, the hand
clutching a pistol, to walk
in a closed, harsh line, even after
the cheeks are filled with dust,
and the seared flesh is fallen away, and the eyes can no longer
focus on a target.

There is a saying: a loaded gun is bound to fire.
Not true.
In the Land of Israel, anything can happen:
a broken pin, a spring rusted through,

or, the sudden cancellation of your orders, without explanation,

as it once happened to Abraham on Mount Moriah.

—Aryeh Sivan (1984)

Translation by M. Salomon

Photo credit: Jerusalem by premasagar