ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yermiyahu Ahron Taub is a poet, writer, and translator of Yiddish literature. He is the author of two books of fiction and six volumes of poetry. His recent translations from Yiddish include Blessed Hands: Stories by Frume Halpern (2023). You can visit his website at https://yataubdotnet.wordpress.com.

City of Sweets

The bells tolled at dusk and into starlight

indifferent to the breezes of unease poking at serenity’s edge

Still the ice cream parlor with its pink and turquoise sundae sign swaying 

above the door on whose benches lovebirds swore eternal devotion

was open

and the bakery with its confections and concoctions

was not without its own steady stream of devotees the commuters

stopping by after work for sweetmeat for sweetheart or sweet pea

or to wolf down a cheese donut or plum dumpling in secret

and with the stockpiling of milk blinking on the outskirts of rumor

we didn’t allow ourselves to think about how much longer this vanilla

and raspberry and Dobos torte decadence would stay available

And still I walked along the paths of the municipal garden

spectacularly groomed on the we might as well say 

the eve of the apocalypse

farther and farther past the evergreen and the briefly red and white

though time was hardly crawling toward curfew

and Mama would be writhing and wringing and practically weeping 

with worry

I could see her pacing hear the floorboards creaking underneath

though I had told her not to

as I was only stepping out for an evening constitutional

And then I was there in the forest of the city’s beyond

where I was sometimes called when mother’s fret was too much to bear

and I came upon you not expecting you but still hoping for you

and suddenly I was surrounded by you

and you did not mind

even seemed to rejoice in 

my concave chest spindly legs the unvoluptuousness of my ass

the density of these spectacles formed for the caressing of pages

only some of the shortcomings as the not-friends had long ago labeled them

that I had so endeavored in vain to undo

and my arms encircled your strength that kept the curfew

and the students’ papers yet to be graded at bay

and I could not believe it was you

and I dropped to my knees in gratitude and adoration

and then when you when we were spent

you kissed me unbidden and fondled Mama’s worry

etched into my body and eyes

and later I saw the metal buttons of your uniform

winking back at me as you waved to me

as you smiled to me now from afar

telling me that this once

on this one and only ever night

with the bells tolling

the ice cream parlor and bakery as yet unshuttered

the breezes of unease subtly but surely turning into winds

I might could possibly yes even if only this once be luminous