The Heart Wants to Scream

The heart wants to scream
But it is silent
Half of it remains behind
The half not-humanitarian-enough

The heart wants to scream
But has learned that one must not speak aloud
So it whispers

A little girl longs for a bedtime story
A family hug
A father’s hand and loving smile
A mother’s gaze
But father and mother are gone.

And her room is no more
And her kindergarten is now history
And her teddy bear has disappeared
And her blankie was burnt to ashes.

She will become accustomed to the smell of her uncles and aunts.

In our thick cauldron of life
Tears of exhilaration dilute a bit
The thickness of blood that was spilled within.

And perhaps not
Perhaps it is like oil and water.
The blood spilled does not become diluted
And the tears of joy float upon the surface
And they have a place.

A Jew in his land.

Matt K. Forest, November, 2023
Translated from the Hebrew by Toby Klein Greenwald