Home again (and more)

Here is a brief report on my state, and then we go back to more poems!

I returned home on Friday, and of course this is always great, especially celebrating the end of this EPOCH chemo! Blood-wise, this promises to be the best recovery period after such a round. My numbers are quite a bit higher than after the previous rounds of this chemo. The simple explanation (which we buy) is that now, as most of the cancer is gone, generating blood is easier for my bone marrow. In particular, my white counts are now high enough  so I don’t need to worry as much about infections. Physically, my spine problems dominate the exhaustion from the treatment, and their combination is not fun at all. I will see my orthopedist again this week, although I don’t think he can do much (as rest is the main cure for such compression fractures). Still every little way of improving both the pain and the speed of healing will help (as during the weeks around transplant I hear weakness is far greater than even during the worst chemo). For pain, I was finally approved for medicinal marijuana;  NJ has a complex bureaucracy, and I didn’t get it yet. It will be interesting to try weed for the first time in my life (yes, yes…).

Meanwhile, life goes on, big-time. Our daughter Einat is due to have a baby girl in one week!! Edna will fly to Israel this weekend (till the next), while Yuval will fly here from Stanford to babysit (daddysit??) me while Edna is away. Excitement is brewing on both sides of the Atlantic, and undoubtedly the weeks before and after the transplant will be full of exciting news and pictures and stories.  

Let me return now to my twilight translations. Today I’ll post two poems of Tirza Atar (תרצה אתר). As no English Wikipedia (or similar) summary of her life and work exits I’ll just give the Hebrew one here (of course, for all poets I mention, the Hebrew version is far more elaborate!) 

https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%94_%D7%90%D7%AA%D7%A8 She was a wonderful and prolific poet (and playwright, and translator). As I mentioned, she was also the daughter of the great Nathan Alterman. Their complex relationship is the subject of many discussions, and I may get to that in a later post. Here are two poems of hers.

• The first one is A song for a festive evening (שיר לערב חג). Atar’s  Hebrew poem is here https://shironet.mako.co.il/artist?type=lyrics&lang=1&prfid=650&wrkid=3843 and my favorite performance of it is here  https://youtu.be/EAK0Ba8QfGU

A song for a festive evening — Tirza Atar 

It’s evening
The sky is so red and exhausted

You probably don’t even know that 

I guess you did not even hear that,

There’s a festival 

In town 

It’s evening 

The city street lamps are alighting 

Its treetops in sunset are blushing 

There’s a festival, I am here standing 

Simply waiting, 

For your step

The city’s hot, and is bustling 

Golden squares lit, behold they are sparkling 

Then its tree tops bowed like shedding a tear

Just because,

You’re not here

It's evening

The fireworks, moon are emitting

Light covering sky and the city

Please tell me, it's only befitting

What happened here, 

And just when...

Yes, evening

It's drunk from both joy and from crying

My soul searching yours is now flying

To find if your life’s satisfying

That you’re still there,

That perhaps....

The city’s hot, and is bustling

Golden squares lit, behold they are sparkling

Then its tree tops bowed like shedding a tear

Just because,

You’re not here

It’s nighttime

Is now just beginning, it’s nascent

A tear drop clung to the moon’s crescent

Just fell and is very much absent

Howls of wind and,

Swish of sand

Yes, nighttime,

The silence is round and relaxing

It's whole and its deep and all knowing

The secrets the city's withholding

'Cause its eyes 

Reveal it all

And the city, so silent

For you makes all its stars luminescent

Not a sound heard

Oh, the city's so sad

The city’s hot, and is bustling 

Golden squares lit, behold they are sparkling

Then its tree tops bowed like shedding a tear

Just because,

You’re not here

• The second poem is probably my favorite birthday song, A birthday prayer (תפילת יום הולדת ). The original Hebrew lyrics are here https://shironet.mako.co.il/artist?type=lyrics&lang=1&prfid=383&wrkid=3217 and my favorite performance is here https://youtu.be/gshB2S0cs4w

A birthday prayer — Tirza Atar

Mighty god of mine, resting now behind my pine
On your long journey down here from heaven
Mighty god of mine, it is nearly Nine
On a Monday, Two Thousand and Seven 

Yes today it is really my birthday
Tel Aviv, now it's nearly Nine
No, not  every day is my birth date
And it is not every day that you're behind my pine

Please make him remember, please give him a sign
Oh you god of surprises, of women, of mine
God of stars and of sun and of moons
God of flowers and gifts and balloons 

Please make him remember this year 

Please help him a gift bring me here

Mighty god of mine, resting now behind my pine
That which the wind has just made its top bow
It is May the Fifth, it is nearly Nine,
It’s Monday... why should you care, why give a damn if he forgets?

Yes today is my birthday, that is true
And last year, indeed, he did forget 

And the year before last he completely missed too
So confused, so many things he does neglect 

Please make him remember, please give him a sign
Oh you god of surprises, of women, of mine
God of stars and of suns and of moons
God of flowers and gifts and balloons
Please make him remember this year
Please help him a gift bring me here

Mighty god of mine, resting now behind my pine
Which like me, seems a little bent too

Mighty god of mine, It is nearly Nine
And I’m just over being Thirty Two 

Fine, today is the date my birth happened

And suppose he forgets, I’ll be cool,

A woman is born every second

Each second too born a man, a fool

So, no need for a miracle, oh the ruler of beings

He is just absentminded, forgets everything

God of stars and of comets and jets
God of...doesn't matter, god of all who forget
So, another year gone down the drain
Must I get a new present, again?

Mighty god of mine...