Toil

Clothe me, goodly mother, in a splendrous coat of many colors,
And with dawn lead me unto my toil.

My land wraps itself in light as in a tallit
Houses stand like tefillin,
And like tefillin-straps the palm-paved highways all glide down.

Thus a beautiful new township prays at dawn to her creator,
And among creators,
Your son Abraham
Is the hymnal poet-paver
Of the roads of Israel.

And at evening in the sunset Father shall return from labors
And like prayer whisper gladly:
Dearest son, my Abraham
Skin and bones and veins and sinews:
Hallelujah

Clothe me, goodly mother in a splendrous coat of many colors,
And with dawn lead me
Unto my toil.