Each Rose

Zelda

1967

Each rose is an island
of the promised peace,
the eternal peace.
Inside the petals
of each rose dwells
a sapphire bird called
“And They Shall Beat Their Swords.”
And it seems so
close, the light
of that rose, so close
its scent, the silence
of its leaves, so close
that island—just take
a boat and go out
into a sea of flames.

Translated by
Bar…
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Creator Bio

Zelda

1914–1984

Poet Zelda Schneurson (later Mishkovsky) was born in Chernigov, Russia (now Chernihiv, Ukraine) and would later publish under her first name only. The religiously observant daughter of a Hasidic rabbi descended from the Lubavitch dynasty, Zelda immigrated with her family to Palestine at the age of twelve. As a young woman, she wanted to study painting but was never able to do so formally. Instead she taught kindergarten for a number of years while painting and writing poetry in her spare time. Following her marriage in 1950, she ceased teaching and began to focus on poetry. Her first collection was not published until 1965, but her work proved enormously popular; her eventual six books were best sellers in Israel, and her work was translated into many languages and set to music.

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