Below is my translation of the second poem in Basman Ben-Haim’s new book. It is an account of the time when the couple lived on kibbutz Ha-Ma’apil and the poet brought home a bunch of flowers for her husband to immortalize.
Your First Painting
I’ve just come from the field
And I bring you a bunch of flowers.
And you, brush in hand
Smooth colors, preserve
The sunset in each flower-
I see the flowers
Bloom once again
In your hand
As though nothing at all
Ever vanished on land.