In the wake of the recent tragic events, Nerve is running a series of pieces from our archives dealing with grief and loss.
I Have Become Very Hairy
I have become very hairy all over my body.
I'm afraid they'll start hunting me because of my fur.
My multicolored shirt has no meaning of love —
it looks like an air photo of a railway station.
At night my body is open and awake under the blanket,
like eyes under the blindfold of someone to be shot.
Restless I shall wander about;
hungry for life I'll die.
Yet I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities destroyed,
and tranquil, like a full cemetery.
© 1977 by Yehuda Amichai.
From Amen: Poems by Yehuda Amichai, published
by Milkweed Editions. All rights reserved.
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