Guard changing again

A week has passed quickly – Edna returned from Israel yesterday, relieving Yuval of his daddysitting duties, so he could return to his TA (and other) duties at Stanford. 
It was a good week. My blood numbers rose (as expected on the 3rd week after chemo, but even more so). Also my back, probably due to the brace which I wear now most of the day, is less painful and in fewer situations. In particular, I sleep better at night – in short, a good positive feedback loop. The fatigue seemed to have decided to concentrate its efforts on the afternoons and evenings, so the mornings are better, and I was able to go for a walk almost every morning, and went to IAS today. Being with Yuval was great quality time as usual, but among the many topics we discussed, we talked math, actually quite a bit of it. I was much more concentrated, and it was great to hold long, technical discussions again, after a long time where (at this technical level) I was able to do so very sporadically and for very short periods. 

The main activity at home now is getting ready for the move to NY (this coming Monday!). Of course, Edna does almost all of it. I will write in more detail what is waiting for us in the following weeks, but as it is evening now, and fatigue is definitely felt, I will delay it for a day or two. As usual, I’ll conclude with some poems translations.

As I mentioned last time, I have many more poems of poets who appeared in previous posts. But as more permissions for other poets I translated are arriving (due to the tireless efforts of my brother Meir),  I get excited about these and so now want to share two new ones with you.

  • The first is by Shalom Hanoch (שלום חנוך) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalom_Hanoch . He is an extremely productive poet, composer and performer, and one of the dominant artists on the Israeli music scene for decades. Here is his A man within himself ( אדם בתוך עצמו), which is one of the very first ones I translated. The original Hebrew lyrics are at https://shironet.mako.co.il/artist?type=lyrics&lang=1&prfid=960&wrkid=39 . Like for many of his songs, he wrote the music and sings it as well – here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjEbQr56ty4  . Let me note that several friends suggested replacing "woman” for "man”, and it turns out to be much easier to do in English than in Hebrew, keeping the meter, rhymes etc. – feel free to revise and sing.  Here is the translation of the original poem.



A man within himself - Shalom Hanoch

A man resides within himself,
                within himself resides 
Sometimes he’s low and bitter,
                sometimes on high tide
A door he sometimes opens,
                lets a friend inside 
But almost all the time,
               He’s sheltered from the outside 

A man resides within himself,
                within itself resides
Maybe in a bustling city,
               or by the seaside 
And sometimes a storm in passing,
                with his house collides
But almost all the time,
                he from himself will also hide

Then you, yes, you 
                 came into my sight 
Oh the house without you empty,
                 colder is the night 
So I try to keep you near me,
                 try with all my might 
Yet I wonder if I’ll see you,
                 in the morning light 

A man is nearest to himself 
A man within himself resides  

Japanese legend- Ehud Manor

Hunter woke up that day It is dawn I must go 
To the forest made way
Arrow in his bow
Till the evening explored
Not a single prey caught 
Thirst and hunger him tore
Tired and distraught 

To the village, depressed 
Fatigued, went back 
Then observed pair of swans 
In the lake 
White, majestic they float 
Loving, musical note  
At once, 
His swift arrow slew one 

Hunter quickly collapsed 
On his bed, awfully tired 
But a nightmare, possessed 
His whole sleep devoured 
All tormented broke in
A girl, straight to his shed
In her hand, very thin 
She a feather held

Both her beautiful eyes 
Accuse, peer deep 
Till the night dies
Continued to weep 
What offense has he done
Oh my white loving swan?
Day break-
You must come to the lake 

Hunter woke up next day 
It is dawn I must go 
To the lake made his way
Arrow in his bow

Then the swan, all pure white
Glanced the hunter, come into her sight
Then her beak in a flash
quickly tore at her flesh
He stunned,
In his shadow she drowned

All of the world, is dark
All of the world, is stark

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