Maya Weinberg is a poet, veterinary doctor and bat researcher. Her first book of poetry Open Landscape was published on 2015 (Iton 77 Publishers). Her poetry is published in variety of important platforms and she is a graduate of the Helicon Poetry School in Israel. Much of her work focuses on the typical vegetation and animals of the Mediterranean.
Gili Haimovich is a poet and translator. Her translations appear or forthcoming in journals such as Poetry International, Asymptote, Poetry Repair and Recours au Poème. As a poet herself, she had published a collection of poems in English titled Living on a Blank Page (Blue Angel Press, 2008) and six volumes of poetry in Hebrew and in many leading international journals. Gili works also as a writing focused arts therapist and educator.
I am a tawny owl
and I have nothing to lose
tonight when I’m hungry.
Head is round, eyes are black
the calls are sharp, clear and poignant.
I have no mercy and no need in it
and won’t give anything in return.
The night darkens and lingers
the forest is opens and widens
and no one is as lonely as
the one who sees everything precisely
without being seen.
Honey Sucker
When I was a bird
I was a Honey Sucker
honeydew solely
there’s no such thing
as too sweet
little and quick
almost quantum
once here and once different
in a wondrous metabolism
it was impossible to catch me
Southern Daisy
It’s easy to pass me by in the field
a perennial plant, white,
graceful. Small. Scattered in a flash of bloom
only few come near, lean over to see
how no one is as pretty as me.
In a crisp white skirt and a slender neck
stretched with full intention
while my yellow head filled to its brim.
Every slight wind sways me completely
but I’m not uprooted.
Cyclamens raise my compaction.
Orchids make me nauseous.
I have the freedom and sincerity
kept for ruderal species.
A Love Poem to a Tree
In the heart of the city a Judas tree is blooming
like meeting a lover
from a faraway land.
How are you handsome man?
What are you doing here?
How long will you stay?
Written by Maya Weinberg
© Translated by Gili Haimovich
Published with the permission of Maya Weinberg & Gili Haimovich