Tonight a storm shall pass...

Tonight a storm shall pass across the black of your land --
And assail forests meditating on their strength and moistening their prey.
It shall warm the breath of fields,
And reveal rivers, strike at their nakedness
And lift up their mist.
On this night --
It will worry the walls of your house - suffocating, groaning;
And frightened, will escape to the forest
In a moment it will return, shrieking,
Smash your door and burst up your stairs,
The howl of its laugh will wrest you from the grasp of fevered dreams
Its cool flight will touch your burning brow,
On it will fly, on it will yell --

You will lie there
Back heavy and comfortless, breath flickering
Listening closely,
Eyes bare and night-trapped...
Until a young, pale-faced day comes,
Peering with surprised eyes into the world
You will yearn for him all the sadness of your longings -
And tremble...
Not know your own soul...
-- For spring has come upon you
Tonight, in the passing of a storm.

Lvov 1903


Avraham Ben-Yitzhak