The poem below, entitled “Arum dem refreyn”, “About that refrain”, is another one of Basman Ben-Haim’s musings on the nature of time. This is a subject that has preoccupied her over the years; this poem is only one of many of hers on that theme.
The poem has two sections. the first, entitled “About that refrain”, and given an א in the manuscript, is the general observation that events time do not (as the popular song would have us believe) roll away: they stay with us in our memory and are ever present in our psyches. The second section, entitled “The first painting” and given a ב in the manuscript, is a retelling of the first painting that Mula Ben-Haim, the poet’s late husband, made while the couple lived in Kibbutz Ha-Ma’apil.
The PDF you see here is what I received from the poet. It is a photo-copy of the hand-written original. Written in April of 2016, it has not yet been published. The PDF below is followed by my English translation:
About that Refrain
A
I remember the refrain of the song
“What was, was and is gone”.
And I don’t agree.
What was is with us still.
It’s there clothed differently
With a different face
In a different place
And yet in the depths
Of feelings and words
In the most concealed earth
The gentle touch infuses
As a drop of elixir does with life.
It encourages a step
And represses a tear.
In the deepest sense –
All that was
Still breathes in me.
The First Painting
B
I’ve just come from the field
I bring you a bunch of flowers
And you, brush in hand
Smooth over colors,
Preserve the sunset
In each flower –
I see how the flowers
Bloom once again in your hand
As though nothing at all
Ever vanished on land.
28.4. 2016
