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avg rating: 4.31
| 180 ratings
| 28 reviews
| 5 distinct works
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More books by Ilya Kaminsky…
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Dancing in Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky avg rating 4.29 — 173 ratings — published 2004 2 editions |
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Musica Humana by Ilya Kaminsky avg rating 4.67 — 6 ratings — published 2002 |
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The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry by Ilya Kaminsky, Susan Harris avg rating 0.0 — 0 ratings — published 2009 |
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Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture: Spring/Summer 2007 by Ilya Kaminsky, Rami M. Shapiro, Riv-Ellen Prell avg rating 0.0 — 0 ratings — published 2007 |
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Dancing in the Sacred Cave by Jack Webb , Kay Ryan, Ekiwah Adler-Belendez, Li-Young Lee, Ilya Kaminsky avg rating 0.0 — 0 ratings — published 2008 2 editions |
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"Author's Prayer
If I speak for the dead, I must
leave this animal of my body,
I must write the same poem over and over
for the empty page is a white flag of their surrender.
If I speak of them, I must walk
on the edge of myself, I must live as a blind man
who runs through the rooms without
touching the furniture.
Yes, I live. I can cross the streets asking "What year
is it?"
I can dance in my sleep and laugh
in front of the mirror.
Even sleep is a prayer, Lord,
I will praise your madness, and
in a language not mine, speak
of music that wakes us, music
in which we move. For whatever I say
is a kind of petition and the darkest days
must I praise."
— Ilya Kaminsky (Dancing in Odessa)
If I speak for the dead, I must
leave this animal of my body,
I must write the same poem over and over
for the empty page is a white flag of their surrender.
If I speak of them, I must walk
on the edge of myself, I must live as a blind man
who runs through the rooms without
touching the furniture.
Yes, I live. I can cross the streets asking "What year
is it?"
I can dance in my sleep and laugh
in front of the mirror.
Even sleep is a prayer, Lord,
I will praise your madness, and
in a language not mine, speak
of music that wakes us, music
in which we move. For whatever I say
is a kind of petition and the darkest days
must I praise."
— Ilya Kaminsky (Dancing in Odessa)
tags:
poetry
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