34-A Pin In The Eye

A Pin In The Eye

Baal Hasulam

It is like a person
who is walking on the street
with a little child,
and the child is crying bitterly.

All the people on the street
are looking at the father and thinking,

“How cruel is this man
who can hear his son crying
without paying any attention?

The child’s cries
make even people on the street
feel sorry for the child,
but this man,
who is his father, doesn’t.

And there is a rule,
‘As a father has compassion
on his children.’”

The child’s cries made people
go to his father and ask,
“Where is your mercy?”

Then his father replied, 

“What can I do
if my son,
whom I keep like the apple of my eye,
demands of me
to give him a pin

so he can scratch his eye
because he has an itch in his eyes?

Can I be called “cruel”
for not granting his wish,
or is it for mercy
that I will not give it to him

so he will not poke his eye
and remain blind forever?”