Translation of a poem by Yehuda Amichai
The precision of pain and the haze of joy. I think
About the precision with which people describe what hurts in doctors' offices.
Even those who never learned to read and write can pinpoint their pain:
Here it pinches, here it's sharp, here it's blunt. It hurts here. Right here.
Yes. Joy blurs everything. I have heard it said,
After wild nights of making love and merry: It was great, amazing,
I felt like I was flying. Even the astronaut hovering
In space can only say: Amazing! Awesome! I'm speechless!
The precision of pain and the haze of joy.
I want to describe the blur of ecstasy and rapture
With the precision of a sharp pang.
I've learned to speak from those in pain.
(Translated for SWR, 4.7.12)
About the precision with which people describe what hurts in doctors' offices.
Even those who never learned to read and write can pinpoint their pain:
Here it pinches, here it's sharp, here it's blunt. It hurts here. Right here.
Yes. Joy blurs everything. I have heard it said,
After wild nights of making love and merry: It was great, amazing,
I felt like I was flying. Even the astronaut hovering
In space can only say: Amazing! Awesome! I'm speechless!
The precision of pain and the haze of joy.
I want to describe the blur of ecstasy and rapture
With the precision of a sharp pang.
I've learned to speak from those in pain.
(Translated for SWR, 4.7.12)