A Short History of Israel, Notes and Glosses

Charles Reznikoff

                                          XI

A hundred generations, yes, a hundred and twenty-five,

had the strength each day

not to eat this and that (unclean!)

not to say this and that,

not to do this and that (unjust!),

and with all this and all that

to go about

as men and Jews

among their enemies

(these are the Pharisees you mocked at, Jesus).

Whatever my grandfathers did or said

for all of their brief lives

still was theirs,

as all of it drops at a moment make the fountain

and all of its leaves a palm.

Each word they spoke and every thought

was heard, each step and every gesture seen,

by God;

their past was still the present and the present

a dread future’s.

But I am private as an animal.

I have eaten whatever I liked,

I have slept as long as I wished,

I have left the highway like a dog

to run into every alley;

now I must learn to fast and to watch.

I shall walk better in these heavy boots

than barefoot.

I will fast for you, Judah,

and be silent for you

and wake in the night because of you;

I will speak for you

in psalms,

and feast because of you

on unleavened bread and herbs.