My Life as a Wall (translated by Marilyn Hacker)

For Israël Eliraz

Neither alive nor dead I am a wall
between two lands
a mouth between two tongues.

                                 *

Not something which offers what can be shared
like birth
but something that separates forever.

                                 *

Not a border
but a moat to hinder
human connections.

                                 *

The tsunami of a glance
is a permanent danger
for those who refuse to see.

                                 *

A wall between two countries
like a dagger
between two ribs.
...