From the book "Hymn to the Bible"
By Nava Semel
Sleep tight Adam, the first man
The earth is your bed
Now lay down your head.
I sculpted your image from mud
Later, I'll add some more blood.
Our Eden is finally still
It's the end of the show
Darkness soon will grow
Remember, first man
I am above
And you are always below.
Naked you lay
Under the tree of life
Thus you must always remain
Beware of the other fruit
So you'll never know any pain.
You have neither a mother, nor father
We both are alone in this world
You're but a human who shivers from cold
And I am forever your very warm Lord.
That's the right order
Don't dare cross that border.
Soon I'll create you a mate
From your rib a woman will spring
Like a ray in your heart she will glitter
Now close your eyes, don't be so bitter
I'm not going to be your baby sitter.
Sleep tight, Adam the first
You are the weak, I'm the strong
Tomorrow our journey begins
Together we'll travel along.
Enough with your questions
Hush in the mud
"If I'm made of earth,
why is there blood?"
For six days I labored
Why? don't you ask?
Creating a world
Is a tiring task.
I'm also exhausted
Soon sun will rise
Our precious time flies
But for now, no one yet cries
And I too will close my eyes.
Translated from Hebrew by Nava Semel