November 26, 2011Sea Squill Bulbs
to Ward Kelley
On Memorial Day I kneel
to plant sea squill bulbs in pots,
to place on the cement surfaces
in the small military section.
And when they peek at me and call
I place them once again in dirt,
sit on the lump of stone and watch
how they grow green:
how the white flowering candles
glow in the fall,
how their leaves yellow, unconsoled.
And in the spring, after a year, I lean over the pots
I see how they have cracked the clay,
and how the shards have collapsed
and lie in dispersed, asunder.
—Translated from the Hebrew by Cindy Eisner
from #25 - Summer 2006