Hailed as one of the leading Israeli poets, Benarroch´s poetry has been published in a dozen languages, including Urdu and Chinese. Julia Uceda considers that Benarroch holds the memory of the world in his poetry, while Jose Luis Garcia Martin thinks that his poems are more than poetry, they are a document. A witness of his time, Benarroch started writing poetry when he was 15, in English, and has always written in his mother tongue Spanish. When he was 20 he also added Hebrew to his poetry languages and he has published six poetry books in Israel.
"If I had a nomination vote for the Nobel prize he'd be in the running." Klaus Gerken, Ygdrasil editor.
His reputation has been steadily growing and his books have been published in Spain, Israel and the U.S.A. He was awarded the prime minister literary prize in 2008, and The prestigious Yehuda Amichai poetry prize in 2012.
If You See Me in the Street
and I don't say hello to you
don't think I don't want your company
or that I am trying to hurt you
if you see me in the street
and I am thinking another poem
other words
that may finally
describe the firmament line
that connects between my legs
and the town where I was born
a giant rainbow
if you see me in the street and I don't say
hello
it is not a declaration of war
but a look
into the future.
''''''''
In the Land of Immigrants
In the land of immigrants
still an immigrant.
people say to me
maybe your feeling is the feeling
of every poet
and I say
I speak and you stay silent
I cry and you laugh
I shout and you mock
I explain and you categorize
I feel pain and you run away.
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Sand
it took me twenty years to learn to cry in Hebrew
then my words became mild
as a stone whose secret has been revealed by the rain
that it was made of sand.
___________________
TAKE ME TO THE SEA is a selection of Benarroch's early, and some say his best.
~~~~~~~
Writing
Is
the illness
and the cure.
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