today a poem for a Day 5 (March, 2014)

GUILT

Every time I play with my grandchildren

my parents stand and watch over us in silence.

They stare with severity, without a shadow

of a smile, of love or of joy.

Father’s head as bald as any knee.

Mother’s dress as grey as ash.

And often I ask myself the question:

are they simply judging me

for existing still?


Irit Amiel (Irena Librowicz) is a translator, poet and writer. She was born in Częstochowa in 1931. Both her parents died in Treblinka in 1942. Just before leaving Ghetto for the concentration camp, they managed to hide little Irena in the secure place. After war she emigrated to Palestine, later she settled in Israel, where she lives and works

Samples of Irit's poetry here

Podcast with Irit in London (2013) here