Audio: Read by the author.

If a friend calls out to you late at night from beneath your window

Never send him on his way. And if you’ve sent him away and still

Insist on rigid rules, regain your composure after a moment

And run to the window and shout his name: “Come, Merhav!

Come back! I’ve got some corn cooking! Come eat something.”

And he’ll placidly retrace his steps and gladly accept

The key you toss down from your window,

Will come upstairs to the first floor and will be impressed

By the large pictures on the walls.

He’ll sit and wait for you to slip into a clean shirt and you’ll put on

The movie in the kid’s room and your baby daughter

Will rush to the kitchen and come back with a red pepper for him.

He’ll decline the warm corn and say he’s already had dinner.

In the meantime your husband will chat with him about Tai Chi

And pour him a glass of cold sweet pineapple juice.

You’ll return to the living room

And go out to the balcony and light a cigarette and sip

A cold beer. You don’t yet realize

That this is a sublime moment in your life.

One of the most sublime you’ll ever know.