Yehuda Artzi
At the Threshold of the Days
Again, we stood at the threshold
To account for failures and acts
On the scales of our anxious hearts
And within a moment the present – was past
Slipping aside shyly and abashed,
Residing at the eastern wall of our memories
On the threshold we stood in awe
In face of the new day rising from afar
Have we greeted it with bread and salt?
Behold, at pre-sunrise the anonymous shall arrive:
All hides within it, the fear and the hopes
Our life and our death lay deep within its packet
At the Threshold of the Days
And the prayer has long dried on our lips
How much shall we long for this coming year?
We have not held back offerings – fruit of our toil
Have we refrained from acts of friendship one to another?
And how shall the path swerve away from the abyss?
And we shall yet ask for peace
And we shall lift up our faces to the oncoming day:
And you shall exit peacefully away!