a poem by avraham ben-yitzhak

Blessed Are Those Who Sow and Do Not Reap

Blessed are those who sow and do not reap

Because they wander far.

Blessed are those who give themselves freely, the splendor

Of whose youth had added to daylight

Though they flung off their glory where roads part.

Blessed are those whose pride crosses the borders of their souls

And becomes a white humility

After the rainbow's rising in the cloud.

Blessed are those who know what their heart cries out in deserts

And on whose lips silence flowers.

Blessed are they, for they will be taken into the heart of the world

Wrapped in a cloak of unremembrance,

Forever remaining without speech.

Ben-Yitzhak, Avraham. "Blessed Are Those Who Sow and Do Not Reap" Voices Within The Ark: The Modern Jewish Poets. New York: Avon Books, 1980.