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We end 2017 with an infusion of religious, secular, biblical, and sensual registers and sensibilities as we enter the poetic world of Esther Ettinger, curated through the translations of Lisa Katz. The Jerusalem-born Ettinger is the author of five books of poetry, two novels, and a monograph on the Israeli poet Zelda. Her work is available in the anthology Dreaming of the Actual: Contemporary Fiction and Poetry by Israeli Women Writers, and the editor, Miriyam Glazer, introduced it with a Ettinger’s own words: “Most of my childhood and youth was spent in the shadow of war.”

Here is Ettinger’s poem “Dynasty”:

Shoes –
black suede, size thirty-eight
that I bought in Rome with my mother
near the fountain
in ninety-one.
My granddaughters walk in them.
Their big toes swim down into the boats’
sharp prows,
and they sail on their high haunches
on a journey through the rooms,
fail and stand up again.

This is how we establish a dynasty.

Text:
“Elisha,” translated by Vivian Eden,” “Dynasty” translated by Lisa Katz, “History II,”and “When I Brought You,” translated by Rona May-Ron. Poetry International Rotterdam.

See also: Dreaming the Actual: Contemporary Fiction and Poetry by Israeli Women Writers edited by Miriyam Glazer. SUYNY Press, 2000.

Music:
Axcik Girl – The Bridge Project
כל יום מתחילה שנה – עפרה חזה
בית הבובות – שנה חדשה