Samuel Menashe Poems

Here and there
White hairs appear
On my chest—
Age seasons me
...

Sheets entangle him
Naked on his bed
Like a toppled mast
Slack sails bedeck
...

No more than that
Dead cat shall I
Escape the corpse
I kept in shape
...

Let’s make believe
I am happy, I laugh
Black poison, all of me
Its bottleful,
...

In a doorway
Staring at rain
Simple withstands
Time on his hands
...

Scribe out of work
At a loss for words
Not his to begin with,
The man life passed by
...

Sharpen your wit—
Each half of it—
Before you shut
Scissors to cut
...

Old as I am
This candle I light
For you today
May be the last one
...

A-
round
my neck
an amu-
let
...

Is this writing mine
Whose name is this
Did I underline
What I was to miss?
...