“Now in Jerusalem, the Ashkenazi Jews are reciting the Selichot prayers. / The Sephardi Jews began three weeks ago, / chanting El Malei.”

“A mare dances on two strings—that’s how / Ismael’s fingers listen to his blood. The villages scatter / like poppies in the rhythm.”

“Though you swam in the sea, you’re not like a fish, / though you took off in flight, you’re not like a bird— / The towers of Babel you built wrecked / over the man dwelling in the poet’s wings.”

“The whole of my wisdom contracts to the bulk of a fly on a bright window-pane, / what were mountains and vales are but a scratch on glass.”

“Swords can only harm those standing right in front of them, while stories determine who will live and who will die in future generations.”