Eerbetoon aan Abramek Koplowicz

Volledige gedicht:

When I am twenty years of age,
I will burst forth from this cage
and begin to see our splendid Earth.
For the first time since my birth!
In my motorized bird I’ll soar high,
above a world so lovely, into the sky.

Over rivers and the seas,
with such stupefying ease,
with my brother wind and sister cloud, I’ll
marvel at the Euphrates and the Nile;
The goddess Isis ruled the land that links
the Pyramids and the massive Sphynx.

I will glide above Niagara Falls,
and sunbathe where the Sahara calls;
If I want to escape the scorching heat,
I will fly up north to an Arctic retreat.
I will top the cloudy peaks of Tibetan fame
and survey the fabled land whence the magic came.

From the Island of Kangaroos
I’ll take my time and cruise
To the ruins of Pompeii
At the edge of Naples Bay,
I’ll continue to the Holy Land, then seek
The home of Homer, the celebrated Greek.

More and more astonished will I grow
at the beauty of the Earth below.
In all my travelling I’ll be twinned
with my siblings, cloud and wind.

Abramek Koplowicz, op 14-jarige leeftijd vermoordt in Auschwitz. Lees hier meer over hem.