Woman Martyr

translated, from the Hebrew, by Lisa Katz

"The afternoon darkens,

and you are only twenty."

-Nathan Alterman, Afternoon in the Market

You are only twenty

and your first pregnancy is an exploding bomb.

Under your broad skirt you are pregnant with dynamite

and metal shavings. This is how you walk in the market,

ticking among the people, you, Andaleeb Takatkah.

Someone changed the workings in your head

and launched you toward the city;

even though you come from Bethlehem,

the Home of Bread, you chose a bakery.

And there you pulled the trigger inside yourself,

and together with the Sabbath loaves,

sesame and poppy seed,

you flung yourself into the sky.

Together with Rebecca Fink you flew up

with Yelena Konreeb from the Caucasus

and Nissim Cohen from Afghanistan

and Suhila Houshy from Iran

and two Chinese you swept along

to death.

Since then, other matters

have obscured your story,

about which I speak all the time

without having anything to say.

Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated Mar/Apr 2003
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