Minor Vows

ELISHA PORAT

The vows that I
make to myself
are minor vows: such as
to visit my father's grave
on days of joy;
such as to run in the evening
after the flight of the herons
in the distance; to be
once again a child ascending
an imaginary tower; to be filled
with the scent of approaching darkness,
with the whiteness of flowering citrus.

The things that I
wish for myself
are minor things: such as
to wander and wander
until I have gathered enough strength
to raise the dead.

Translated from the Hebrew by Cindy Eisner

Elisha Porat writes on a kibbutz in Israel.

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