“Mother, Mother
Open the door
My whole body
Shivers with cold
Mother, Mother
Open the door
My shoulders
Carry a heavy burden
Last night
The snow came
And pierced my bones
My young, my little girl
Sent a love letter.”
Ahuva Ozeri, אמי, אמי
This chant, with its alternating heartbreaking and soothing tones, could evoke a chasm between two people. A void that will never be filled, between a daughter and a mother who have no relationship.
The poetry of the sober words speaks to me. They convey this feeling I sometimes descry deep inside me.
My whole body shivers with cold.
My shoulders carry a heavy burden.
The snow came and pierced my bones.
This glacial cold from which it is not possible to thaw out.
My young, my little girl, sent a love letter.
But she won’t answer. She will never answer.