I want to remember my past,
To see before my eyes
The image of my parents,
The house I grew up in
The shteitel where my family lived for generations.

I don’t want to remember my past.
I am afraid of what my memory
Might bring forth
I wonder
If I can go on living
Remembering
What I wanted to forget.

 

                                   Originally written in Hebrew by Itta Keller Benhaiem 

                                   Translated into English