Makh Tsi Di Eygelekh
The song in the pice is 'Makh tsi di eygelekh’ a Yiddish lullaby by Isaiah Shpigl, a writer-poet-essayist-teacher who survived the Łódź ghetto and Auschwitz. Although a lullaby, it is one about hopelessness contrasting horrifying lyrics with a sweet melody. I found it incredibly haunting and provocative. The Holocaust sadly holds a visceral place in my family history, however it has not been a them I have often visited in my work.
LYRICS
'Makh tsi di eygelekh'
Close Your Eyes
Lyrics: Isaiah Shpigl
Melody: David Beyglman
Close your little eyes,
Little birds are coming,
Circling around
The head of your cradle.
Baggage in hand
Our home in ashes
We are setting out, my child
In search of luck.
God has closed off the world
And night is all around
Waiting for us,
Full of horror and fear.
The two of us stand here
In this difficult, difficult, moment
Not knowing where
The road leads.
Naked and bare
We were chased from our home
In darkness,
Driven into the fields;
And storm, hail and wind
Have accompanied us, my child
Accompanied us into
The abyss of the world.
