Israel has two national memorial days: one to remember the holocaust and the other to remember the fallen soldiers. Both of them, unfortunately, are well connected to my family and thus to myself. My grandparents on both sides have lost most of their family thanks to the Nazis. My father's brother died in the Yom Kippur war, never living to be 20. I can't even start to write anything of use about it. Amazing how the ultimate loss, like a stone thrown to a pond, affects all its surroundings.
So even if nowadays I don't live in Israel and am only visiting it, the personal family issues are always here.
Here's something I made and played some years ago, when my father was still alive. I composed a poem written by his brother Raanan. Raanan wrote the poem before starting his mandatory military service. My lame translation follows the video
"When you find my nose distorted,
lain on earth clods whose taste gone sour,
don't shed a tear.
Allot me a place
little and tiny
sealed by a seal
in a secret room.
Promise me only this
that at least once a year you'll remember me
and to the (soccer) field I've loved you'll take me back.
Let all know:
I've loved life
the thrill
the excitement
the winning
In the battle I've marched with no hesitation
Because the reasons and motives were clear to me.
Am I one of the many in whom the ideals have sunken in the flood of words?
Am I one of many who feel the depth of things? if at all...
"
So even if nowadays I don't live in Israel and am only visiting it, the personal family issues are always here.
Here's something I made and played some years ago, when my father was still alive. I composed a poem written by his brother Raanan. Raanan wrote the poem before starting his mandatory military service. My lame translation follows the video
"When you find my nose distorted,
lain on earth clods whose taste gone sour,
don't shed a tear.
Allot me a place
little and tiny
sealed by a seal
in a secret room.
Promise me only this
that at least once a year you'll remember me
and to the (soccer) field I've loved you'll take me back.
Let all know:
I've loved life
the thrill
the excitement
the winning
In the battle I've marched with no hesitation
Because the reasons and motives were clear to me.
Am I one of the many in whom the ideals have sunken in the flood of words?
Am I one of many who feel the depth of things? if at all...
"
We are living in a world, an amazing world, a wonderful world. The more we understand that we're nothing, and the more we live the truth even death won't stop us from being what what we really are - sons and daughters of a king - sons and daughters that are made of gems.
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