Good Night
after the Sephardic Ballad Noches Buenas
Haworth Hodgkinson
Sleep, girls! Sleep, my girls!
But if you sleep, remember:
There were once three sisters; they followed each other,
Each stepping in each other's tread,
Till one night the youngest broke free from the soil
And like crystal she shone overhead.
Sleep, girls! Sleep, my girls!
But if you sleep, remember:
Such a vibrant night, said the youngest girl,
So hot and so hard to endure,
Tossing and turning like fish in the sea
With the anchor of dreams insecure.
Sleep, girls! Sleep, my girls!
But if you sleep, remember:
Tomorrow, my sisters, you both will be old.
I shall be young forever.
Written 1999
Edited 2000
Published in Pushing
Out the Boat Issue 2, 2002
(Aberdeenshire Council)
and in
There's a Bairn in My Broth, 2008
(Koo Press)
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