Return to Babylon

by Sergey Stratanovsky
translated by J. Kates

A lifeless rain
fell on that day
when we gathered by command
in front of the house of God
and listened to Ezra, the lawyer,
the builder of a new life.

“Put aside,” he said,
“your wives from hostile tribes,
Heathen wives
shamelessly leading you to
admire their idols.
Let them be clear out
to their own Babylon, their own Edom.
And purify right away
the home of the descendants of Jacob.
So the Lord speaks through Ezra.”

A lifeless rain
fell on that day
and I came home completely drenched
And my Babylonian wife
met me at the door
Stripped my wet clothes from me
hung them by the fire
And had them dry by morning.

And then together
we set off on a far journey:
East to Babylon, to a tumultuous city
A predatory city,
that until recently
held my clawed people in its clutches.

A long journey through the hills when
My wife and I walked to Babylon . .