Fleating

First translation of the work of Hezy Leskly (1952 -- 1994). This poem was not intended for publication, and was published only posthumously in his collected poems (edited by Wieseltier). According to the collection, the poem appeared in a red notebook entitled "Soup: unripe poems 1968-70". (מרק: שירי בוסר)

Here is a link to the full version of Yakantalisa, Yair Lev's documentary about Leskly, with English subtitles and a fantastic clip of Leskly reading his poem that gave this blog its name (translated there by Aura Hammer, Oded Peled and Peter Cole).

Yves Klein: Leap into the Void (1960)

Der Tod der Flohzirkusdirektors

When, the cropdust-

ing plane

had killed by

mistake

the fleas 

that belonged to 

Herr Weiss

Herr Weiss was 

facing

the nothing.

Inside the nothing he went on living and even

creating

but already then he was

facing

one possibility

only and later on he chose 

it.

Der Tod der Flohzirkusdirektors

כּשְ, מְטוס הָ

רִסוס

הרג בְּ

טעות 

את הַ

פרעושים של 

הֶר וַיְיס

נִצַב

הֶר וַיְיס בִּפְני

הכּלום.

בתוך הכלום המשיך לחיות וַאפילו 

ליצֹר

אבל כבר אז

נִצְבה

בפניו אפשרות אחת

ויחידה ומאֻחר יותר הוא בחר

בה.