Years have sped, eternally streaming --
Life has shaped you in course of time; --
Still you sang . . .
And still you created rhyme.
Still, in your own fashion, you prayed . . .
Or composed songs
Of Sadness and joy . . .
Or with children played.
You shortened,
Or the garment lengthened . . .
Years long . . and oft regretted . . .
You counted them to the good . . .Winters and summers
In their array --
Passed by in eternal procession . . .
Now you sing again
Songs of bygone days. . .
Of love eternal, --
Rooted so deeply; --
Of the ordinary
Day to day chores,
You sing your song
Once more,
Of the days of yore.And of the credo--
Of coming Messiah --
And of bright hopes
For the morrow.You sing once again
Songs of the Sabbath --
And melodies
Of holidays sanctified . . .
Of diligent study . . .
Then prayed with pride . . .
You recall
Oft and again
Of the times when
You chanted the "Shimenesre" *
Earnestly, studiously . . .
And miracles wished for,
Eternally . . .
And now in song,
A question raise --
Midst the aura of modern days:The whole world is at loggerheads . . .
When? Where? Can miracles be realized?
When there are beings --
Famished, weakened --
In a world by turmoil seized . . .
And bloodily wounded . . .Are there days ahead --
Near . . . or on horizon wide . . .
When humanity will be assured
Of bread --
When humanity shall be at peace
And satisfied? . . .
Will the redeeming envoy ever appear?
Will the world's long-yearned for Messiah
Ever be here?