Roni Eldad

What Do You See

What do you see:

hot air balloons, I see,

birds screeching, feathers, feathers on the hatches,

a father with a stroller of a baby girl, frozen in the middle of the motion.

 

What do you see:

a fire burning in a flower shop, I see,

inside the house, good kids, pupils glinting

bike helmets on their heads, the fear of blasting

a woman shouting into the phone in a panic from the hearsay

 

What do you see:

I don't see, I hear God tears up

behind a tall tree or a little shrub

only a mother of flesh and blood covers the chicks, and inside her wings

shines the mercy of the entire world, how is she getting devoured

by the teeth of an ugly beast

 

What do you see, I see

we were strange. The sun was covered by angel’s sand

jackals carved with teeth in our land,

all the children are wide awake

a terrifying darkness woke us up, we will never sleep again.

 

 

 

Translated to English by Shachar Mor

About the Author

Roni Eldad writes poetry and literature for children and she is an art and literature critic. Winner of the Minister of Culture's award for poets at the beginning of their career. She has published two books of poetry so far. "Yavo" and "Yemama", both were published in the "Textura" series by Pardes Publishing. "Whirlpool" a children's book she wrote was published in 2020 by "Tal Mai" publishing house of Yedioth Books.