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Variety
Poetry

A Memory

By
Hamutal Bar-Yosef
Hamutal Bar-Yosef
&
Esther Cameron
Issue 26
December 14, 2025
Header image design by Orly Zebak.
Variety
Poetry
Issue 26
A Memory

“A Memory” is translated from the Hebrew by Esther Cameron.

‍

There I disappeared from their sight:
There I was swallowed up in the cool No.
Under my parents’ iron bed
on the scratchy floor planks
I ceased to be, I shuttered up; only
the acidulous fragrance of apples in the curls of dust –
There I dwelt with the crates of fruit,
stretched out in the place of freshness preserved forever.
There I breathed sweet absence.
There I silenced my heart from beating.
Who’s missing? Who’s upset?
Who’s guessing-groping-galloping
toward my hidden existence?
What a great astonishment!
Crawling on all fours
I birthed myself to my parents
who weren’t looking for me at all.
I raised my head
and I was who I was.
Almost three years old.

No items foun

Hamutal Bar-Yosef

Hamutal Bar-Yosef is a well known Israeli writer, poet, translator and scholar. She was born in a kibbutz. When she was over 40 she wrote her PH.D. and became a Professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University. She published eight scholarly books and 16 books of poetry, winning over 10 major prizes for her poetry. Her poems were translated and published in various languages, including two collections in English, both published by Sheep Meadow, NY: Night, Morning (2017) and The Ladder (2013).
‍

Her collection of stories Music won the ASI (Association of Israeli Writers) prize (translated into English as The Wall, 2019). She translated poetry and prose fiction from English, French, Russian, and Yiddish. Her prize-winning historical novel The Wealthy has been translated into English (2022).

  • Hamutal Bar-Yosef

    Hamutal Bar-Yosef is a well known Israeli writer, poet, translator and scholar. She was born in a kibbutz. When she was over 40 she wrote her PH.D. and became a Professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University. She published eight scholarly books and 16 books of poetry, winning over 10 major prizes for her poetry. Her poems were translated and published in various languages, including two collections in English, both published by Sheep Meadow, NY: Night, Morning (2017) and The Ladder (2013).
    ‍

    Her collection of stories Music won the ASI (Association of Israeli Writers) prize (translated into English as The Wall, 2019). She translated poetry and prose fiction from English, French, Russian, and Yiddish. Her prize-winning historical novel The Wealthy has been translated into English (2022).

  • Esther Cameron

    Esther Cameron is an American-born poet, essayist, editor and translator living in Jerusalem. She is founding editor of a poetry magazine, The Deronda Review, for which she has translated numerous Hebrew poets.  She previously translated a selection of Bar-Yosef's poems entitled The Ladder (Sheep Meadow Press, 2014) as well as her epic novel The Wealthy (Gefen, 2021).

“A Memory” is translated from the Hebrew by Esther Cameron.

‍

There I disappeared from their sight:
There I was swallowed up in the cool No.
Under my parents’ iron bed
on the scratchy floor planks
I ceased to be, I shuttered up; only
the acidulous fragrance of apples in the curls of dust –
There I dwelt with the crates of fruit,
stretched out in the place of freshness preserved forever.
There I breathed sweet absence.
There I silenced my heart from beating.
Who’s missing? Who’s upset?
Who’s guessing-groping-galloping
toward my hidden existence?
What a great astonishment!
Crawling on all fours
I birthed myself to my parents
who weren’t looking for me at all.
I raised my head
and I was who I was.
Almost three years old.

No items found.

Hamutal Bar-Yosef

Hamutal Bar-Yosef is a well known Israeli writer, poet, translator and scholar. She was born in a kibbutz. When she was over 40 she wrote her PH.D. and became a Professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University. She published eight scholarly books and 16 books of poetry, winning over 10 major prizes for her poetry. Her poems were translated and published in various languages, including two collections in English, both published by Sheep Meadow, NY: Night, Morning (2017) and The Ladder (2013).
‍

Her collection of stories Music won the ASI (Association of Israeli Writers) prize (translated into English as The Wall, 2019). She translated poetry and prose fiction from English, French, Russian, and Yiddish. Her prize-winning historical novel The Wealthy has been translated into English (2022).

  • Hamutal Bar-Yosef

    Hamutal Bar-Yosef is a well known Israeli writer, poet, translator and scholar. She was born in a kibbutz. When she was over 40 she wrote her PH.D. and became a Professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University. She published eight scholarly books and 16 books of poetry, winning over 10 major prizes for her poetry. Her poems were translated and published in various languages, including two collections in English, both published by Sheep Meadow, NY: Night, Morning (2017) and The Ladder (2013).
    ‍

    Her collection of stories Music won the ASI (Association of Israeli Writers) prize (translated into English as The Wall, 2019). She translated poetry and prose fiction from English, French, Russian, and Yiddish. Her prize-winning historical novel The Wealthy has been translated into English (2022).

  • Esther Cameron

    Esther Cameron is an American-born poet, essayist, editor and translator living in Jerusalem. She is founding editor of a poetry magazine, The Deronda Review, for which she has translated numerous Hebrew poets.  She previously translated a selection of Bar-Yosef's poems entitled The Ladder (Sheep Meadow Press, 2014) as well as her epic novel The Wealthy (Gefen, 2021).