I spent the afternoon with “Partisans of Vilna,” that remarkable 1986 documentary of Lithuanian Jewish resistance. It is long because so many people relate so much about that terrible period, but I could not tear my eyes away from the screen. And I know that the entire story was not told. There was so much more that they simply couldn’t get to. That amazing partisan leader, Abba Kovner, came to life again for me. I post my tribute to him, written when he was fighting throat cancer, in 1986
LESSONS
for Abba Kovner
1.
Since noon was for Sloan Kettering
and evenings for recovery,
we paid our visit in the morning.
Amid sofas and tea, we spoke of poetry
and other easy solutions to complex problems,
until you rose, grabbed the shawl
that hid your disfigured throat
from the streets of New York, and said,
“Time for my dancing lesson.”
II
“This is the last time I will speak in public,”
Abba said to the crowd at his presentation
of a Certificate of Recognition
from the City of New York.
They’d known he was a partisan,
been told he was ill,
but not until he stood
for his final words
did they know
our loss.
III
Dare to be simple, be true —
and though the cords are cut in your throat
your voice comes through,
still, small –piercing hearts
born even after the dust has made its peace
with your fighting bones
The poem doesn’t do him justice, but it gives you an idea of what a stubborn fighter he was.
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