השיר הזה נכתב על-ידי חברה של החבר שלנו שנפטר מסרטן לא מזמן ועליו כתבתי כאן. לצערי העמוק, הוא מתאים באופן כללי גם לחדשות הרעות של הימים האחרונים.
The Unveiling
Batya Channa Shevach
Men and women emerge from cars
In threes, and twos
Shading their eyes against the sun
With hesitant hands
The irony of arms prematurely raised
In a farewell salute
And not even the darkest glasses
Can offset the blinding glare
Of rows of granite slabs
At their wedding
He lifted her bridal veil
And she drank from the outstretched cup
His loved pulsed through the wine
That trickled down her throat
A month after his death
The veil is lifted from his resting place
Her arms hang motionless at her sides
And her tears are as silent
As his name engraved in the stone
A beggar paces among the mourners
Waiting for the ceremony to end
He hopes the void created by their loss
Will give cause to fill his outstretched cup
In another section of the cemetery
A tractor moves earth, preparing more plots
The noise of the grinding motor
Muffles the sounds
Of the father reciting Kaddish
And the mother's heartbroken wails
One little girl
Upset, or perhaps bored
By so many adults engrossed in solemn prayer
Wanders to curiously gaze upon flowers
And the intricate carvings
On the rows of granite slabs
She searches the faces of the mourners
For her father
To ask him when this will all be over
And when he will take her home
But then she remembers
That it's his name engraved in the stone