A Hebrew Poem Written and Translated by Lior Maayan
It's About Time to Talk About Shadows
If there was no light in the world, we could have seen darkness.
It’s about time to talk about shadows,
i.e. about the clouds and what they do
or don’t under the sun
when sunshine falls and leaves a shivering line
upon the sea, and on that which is there,
I mean sunlight
Not all the time
But at dawn
Facing these clouds
Which are always there on hot days like these.
How they say to the light- disappear or appear at once
Call darkness - darkness
Day - day
and after a few long moments
turning my being under the sun
Too exposed – i.e. impossible
And make me look down, turn around
to that streak of light in front of my eyes
lead me to that insight
that the longest shadow falls at sunrise.
Lior Maayan, born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, is a hi-tech executive with a profound background in Physics and Mathematics from the Hebrew University and the Technion. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, France. As a passionate poet, Lior is a member of the Helicon Hebrew-Arabic poetry program and the Poetry Place Arabic-Hebrew translation group. A 2023-24 ALMA-Metanel Fellow, he is also the recipient of the Weizmann Institute Poetry Award and the 2023 laureate of the Clil EcoPoetics Prize. His work has been featured in notable publications such as Granta, Asymptote, Yediot Aharonot, Meshiv Haruach, and JBC Paper Brigade Daily, as well as WriteHaus. His debut book, "That Green" (edited by Shira Stav, Afik 2019), was shortlisted by Haaretz. His forthcoming book, "What is Now," a winner of the Rabinovitz Foundation Award, is anticipated later this year. Lior lives with his wife and continues to contribute significantly to both the technological and literary landscapes.
