Atar Hadari
Last of the Gallants
The last of the gallants has gone –
Who’s to lead the tributes?
Ollie Reed who drank himself to death
In a break between “Gladiator” shoots?
Or Richard Burton who coughed his last
Over a diamond for Elizabeth or some wife after,
No-one remembers now. But Peter, lovely Peter,
Sandy haired raconteur not to say liar,
Eyes blue as quartz staring across a dune,
Lovely Macbeth of the back stalls bar,
Last of the great young boys to come
Claim the sword from Larry’s hand.
Who shall speak the speech over you my lord
When the barrel is empty and the boys
All gone like vagabonds?
About the writer:
Atar Hadari’s Songs from Bialik: Selected Poems of H. N. Bialik (Syracuse University Press) was a finalist for the American Literary Translators’ Association Award. His debut collection, Rembrandt’s Bible, was published by Indigo Dreams in 2013. Lives of the Dead: Poems of Hanoch Levin was awarded a Pen Translates grant and is out now from Arc Publications. He contributes a monthly verse bible translation column to MOSAIC magazine.
Image: The Way of the Elevated World by Miroslav Huptych (1952-). Collage/computer graphic from the cycle Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart. 1000 x 700 mm. 2013. By free license.
