An Arab-Jew in Berlin (Poem)

A poem about life between languages, the many diasporas of Berlin, the memory of a father, exile and the search for intimacy and belonging.

An Arab-Jew in Berlin

I ask fewer questions

And lose myself more in the jazz of Berlin

Flowing from the many Diasporas

At night I climb through women’s windows

In the morning I labor

And on Sabbath with holy words

I talk to myself in Hebrew, with no country

I talk to others in another tongue, with no country

I miss my father’s memorial

And recall him in every word

I don’t know where I come from or where I’m going

But even strangeness has a birthday

And I’ll wake in your arms

And between your thighs

Remembering

Like a child

From: Mati Shemoelof, “Last tango in Berlin”, Booxilla, 2014

Category - Poetry

Tags – Mati Shemoelof, Last Tango in Berlin, Poetry, Berlin Poetry, Exile, Diaspora, Migration, Hebrew Poetry, Jewish Identity, Fatherhood, Belonging, Booxilla