See and Hear Poetry

from the Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlists and Winners

Enjoy poetry excerpts, many including audio and video clips, from the Griffin Poetry Prize shortlisted poets.

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Open Closed Open Yehuda Amichai translated by Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld 2001 International Shortlist

I, May I Rest in Peace

I, may I rest in peace – I, who am still living, say, May I have peace in the rest of my life. I want peace right now while I'm still alive. I don't want to wait like that pious man who wished for one leg of the golden chair of Paradise, I want a four-legged chair right here, a plain wooden chair. I want the rest of my peace now. I have lived out my life in wars of every kind: battles without and within, close combat, face-to-face, the faces always my own, my lover-face, my enemy-face. Wars with the old weapons – sticks and stones, blunt axe, words, dull ripping knife, love and hate, and wars with newfangled weapons – machine gun, missile, words, land mines exploding, love and hate. I don't want to fulfill my parents' prophecy that life is war. I want peace with all my body and all my soul. Rest me in peace. From Open Closed Open, by Yehuda Amichai Copyright © 2000 by Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld

Listen to Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld read I, May I Rest in Peace Click below to view and hear the reading. (Running time: 3:41 minutes) Windows Media ~5.6 Mb RealMedia ~3 Mb MP3 ~4.3 Mb We recommend running these audio and video selections on a high speed Internet connection.