Sloan-Kettering: Poems

by Abba Kovner

In this luminous collection of poems, Abba Kovner records his deep engagement with life during his last days, as he lay dying of cancer in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Kovner, the famed Jewish resistance fighter who led the Vilna ghetto uprising during World War II, was also a beloved master of Hebrew literature, and his work has seldom appeared in English. This translation brings us the fierce and humble gratitude of a visionary who has been a fighter not just for himself but for a whole people, as Kovner takes up his pen to say goodbye to a precious, if flawed, world.
 
Weaving together his perceptions of the present moment (“How little we need/to be a half kilo increase in weight,/two circuits of the corridors”); his sorrow at leaving the world (his wife knitting at his bedside, the chatter of his grandsons); the dramatic loss of his vocal cords (“Have I no right to die/while still alive?”); and memories of his heroic comrades in the Baltic forest, Kovner emerges from these pages with yet another kind of heroism. His continual movement toward freedom and his desire to give a complete account of the gift of life, even as that life is failing, make his words stirring and unforgettable.

Genres: Poetry

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2002

Reviews

[M. Sarki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second time through just as disappointing as the first. Though I respect Kovner's efforts at recording his last days, the poems are lyrically found lacking and void of lasting feeling, other than the hard fact of his sad dying and how he said goodbye.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book of poetry slowly - over the course of roughly two months. I found parts of it eloquent and poignant and other parts fell a bit flat for me. I think I liked it best when his faith was on display:

Is there a prayer for one who prays like him
seething. He has offered no sacrifice, built
no altar. He has not grasped the coattail
of a flying angel,
nor placed his trust in the mercy of heaven

This book also has a brutal honesty about cancer treatment and facing one’s mortality:

When they told him they were going to cut away his vocal cords
entirely it was merely
a confirmation of what he already knew
and it sat deep inside him like a dark lump

I would not share this book with someone facing cancer treatment, but it might be good reading material for someone with a loved one in treatment. It’s hard to convert the way cancer not only infiltrates your body but your mind and soul. It’s like sharing your body with a guest you never invited. Kovner captures that feeling better than I can and I’m grateful he left behind these poems from his final fight.

[Francesbean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and poignant.