Island

By Zelda
o
I step on the earth
as on a living body -
like those who jumped ship
to stand on the back of a whale
because their eyes deceived them.

I step on the dust of the earth
beneath which the water speaks,
roots speak,
metals speak.
Their noise deafens my ears,
dizzies my heart.
The air, too, sways and sings,
and in the heights, worlds explode.
pj
Only the thought of G-d
is an island in the whirl.

translated by Marcia Falk