peace

I, May I Rest in Peace

by Yehuda Amichai

I, may I rest in peace--I, who am still living, say
May I have peace in the rest of my life.
I want peace right now while I'm still alive.
I don't want to wait like that pious man
who wished for one leg of the golden chair of Paradise,
I want a four-legged chair right here, a plain wooden chair.
I want the rest of my peace now.
I have lived out my life in wars of every kind;
battles without and within, close combat, face-to-face, the faces always
my own, my lover-face, my enemy face,
Wars with the old weapons--sticks and stones, blunt axe, words, dull
ripping knife, love and hate,
and wars with newfangled weapons--machine guns, missile, words, land
mines exploding, love and hate.
I don't want to fulfill my parents' prophesy that life is war.
I want peace with all my body and all my soul.
Rest me in peace.