What an awesome poem

This is a poem by the famous Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. It's called "Letter of Recommendation" and it's about his father.

I loved this poem from the very first line: "On summer nights I sleep naked in my bed in Jerusalem."

It made me imagine standing on a huge balcony overlooking the holy city, its ancient buildings and sands lit up by a luminous Middle-eastern moon.

Jerusalem – the very word is like a prayer. When you say it it lingers on your lips, uttered in a hushed tone because you know you're saying something too important to toss off so cavalierly like a "London" or "New York."

And that's just the first line!

It's the exquisite blend of sentimentality, lack of pretension and pure poetic brilliance that makes it a thing of beauty.

He is a believer, in a holy city, and the poem pays tribute to his father, his people and his faith.

He is not the center of the poem – how refreshing.

But it's stanza about his father waking him up in the morning that really brings it home for me. It's earnest and beautiful and sincere:

I remember my father waking me up
for early prayers. He did it caressing
my forehead, not tearing the blanket away.

Wow. I remember when my step-father would wake me at 5 a.m. to feed calves in the cold winter mornings – it wasn't like that. He would rip the blankets and say "Move your lazy ass, Furr-dama," rolling the R's so it sounded like a Wookie was trying to pronounce a human word. (He's Dutch and "Furrdama" means "God damn.")

But I hate to blather on. Here is the poem. See what you think:

On summer nights I sleep naked
in Jerusalem on my bed,
which stands on the brink
of a deep valley
without rolling down into it.

During the day I walk about,
the Ten Commandments on my lips
like an old song someone is humming to himself.

Oh, touch me, touch me, you good woman!
This is not a scar you feel under my shirt.
It's a letter of recommendation, folded,
from my father:
"He is still a good boy and full of love."

I remember my father waking me up
for early prayers. He did it caressing
my forehead, not tearing the blanket away.

Since then I love him even more.
And because of this
let him be woken up
gently and with love
on the Day of Resurrection.