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51
Felix Austria
Shem Tov, disappeared an old
Kiddush cup, a chanukiahwith
a walking golden lion, and
an emerald-decorated yad,
someone suddenly recalled
a pantomime performed by
the wandering Brodensingers
that recounted how the
Lord of Sabaoth transferred
to Heavenly Jerusalem His
people: first the belongings,
then the temples, animals,
dwellings,
surprising
earthbound people with
unexplained disappearances.
Then the holy men, wise men,
musicians, children disappear
too, until not a single Jew
stays behind on this sinful
earth.
All these terrifying events
definitelysignal thatourworld
is living its final moments.
Someone
Unimaginably
Boundless will now take a
deepbreath, languidly stretch
the limbs—and wake up. That
very same moment, all of us,
with our evil eyes and drafty
rooms, with our fears, yelps,
passions, and tears, shall be
no more. We shall dissolve in
the sky like black suffocating
smoke of a house on fire.
Inordernot tothinkabout this,
peoplepreoccupy themselves
with other thoughts—for
example, about the holidays.
And cannot keep calm.
Adela dragged me to a
concert by the sweet young
Raoul Koczalski. He is not yet
fifteen, but the piano keys
just melt under his fingers—
it seems he operates the
instrument with the help
of his gaze, the power of
thought, a nod of his head.
The way I operate a cabbage
slicer when I make sauerkraut
with caraway seeds.
Raoul is a dark-blond youth
with a round face, radiant
eyes, chubby rosy cheeks. It
seems that mustache has not