Open Closed Open: Poems - Tapa blanda

PRAISE FOR "OPEN CLOSED OPEN
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"It is the dream of most poets to become a vox populi without having to sacrifice the subtleties and complexities of their craft . . . Yehuda Amichai is one of very few contemporary poets to have reached a broad cross-section without compromising his art."– "The New York Times Book Review"
 
"Nothing less than an heroic achievement of the spirit, a lofty and sometimes raucous meditation on the history of his nation, his faith, and his heart . . . It is an incomparable triumph."--"The New York Review of Books
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"He is one of our great poets . . . once one has heard his quiet, even tones, precise, distanced and passionate, one never forgets them."-The Times Literary Supplement "Open Closed Open is the uncanny record of genuine inspiration. Happy is the man who has so much in his soul."-Leon Wieseltier "Poets have always talked reverently about unlocking the human heart, but when "I read Amichai I wonder who before him actually managed it."-Ted Hughes
He is one of our great poets . . . once one has heard his quiet, even tones, precise, distanced and passionate, one never forgets them."-The Times Literary Supplement Open Closed Open is the uncanny record of genuine inspiration. Happy is the man who has so much in his soul."-Leon Wieseltier Poets have always talked reverently about unlocking the human heart, but when I read Amichai I wonder who before him actually managed it."-Ted Hughes
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In poems marked by tenderness and mischief, humanity and humor, Yehuda Amichai breaks open the grand diction of revered Jewish verses and casts the light of his own experi­ence upon them. Here he tells of history, a nation, the self, love, and resurrection. Amichai’s last volume is one of medi­tation and hope, and stands as a testament to one of Israel’s greatest poets.
 
Open closed open. Before we are born, everything is open
in the universe without us. For as long as we live, everything is closed
within us. And when we die, everything is open again.
Open closed open. That’s all we are.
—from “I WASN’T ONE OF THE SIX MILLION:
   AND WHAT IS MY LIFE SPAN? OPEN CLOSED OPEN”