Before
July 6, 2023A Precise Woman
July 6, 2023An Arab Shepherd Is Searching For His Goat On Mount Zion
An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion
And on the opposite hill I am searching for my little boy.
An Arab shepherd and a Jewish father
Both in their temporary failure.
Our two voices met above
The Sultan’s Pool in the valley between us.
Neither of us wants the boy or the goat
To get caught in the wheels
Of the “Had Gadya” machine.
Afterward we found them among the bushes,
And our voices came back inside us
Laughing and crying.
Searching for a goat or for a child has always been
The beginning of a new religion in these mountains.
Yehuda Amichai
Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) was an Israeli poet who is considered one of the most important literary figures in modern Hebrew literature. His poetry often dealt with themes of love, war, and the search for identity, and his most famous works include "Open Closed Open" and "The Diameter of the Bomb."