Vox Populi
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Gary Margolis: Overlooking the Sea
“What are you doing here lying in wait for happiness…” YA
First day in two years the horses
look out from their shed. Save
one, poet Amichai (May 3, 1924-
September 22, 2000) If he were still
here, he’d have something to say
about this, bridling the living
to the dead Who wouldn’t want
to be led back to their century,
their tent, their house of stones?
Their window, overlooking the sea.
Amichai made the most of what
he heard. Isn’t Hebrew a kind
of Arabic? He never said. Writing
what he felt, staying put. Until
he could be sure, pausing between
worlds. Making a sound, drawing
the horses nearer. To his mouth.
The new fence line
~~~~
Copyright 2025 Gary Margolis.
Gary Margolis is Emeritus Executive Director of College Mental Health Services and Associate Professor of English (part-time) at Middlebury College. He was a Robert Frost and Arthur Vining Davis Fellow and has taught at the University of Tennessee, Vermont and Bread Loaf and Green Mountain Writers’ Conferences. His many books include What It Means To Be Happy (Green Writers Press, 2023).
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a brief quote from Amichai:
Yes, all this is sorrow. But leave
a little love burning, always,
as in a sleeping baby’s room a little bulb,
without it knowing what the light is
and where it comes from. Yet it gives
a little feeling of security and silent love.
(from poem: Seven Laments for the Fallen in the War)
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I found a better translation:
Yes, all of this is sorrow. But leave
a little love burning always
like the small bulb in the room of a sleeping baby
that gives him a bit of security and quiet love
though he doesn’t know what the light is
or where it comes from.
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Thanks, Jim. I always look forward to reading your comments here.
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Lovely, Gary, and wh
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