To listen to an audio recital of the poem, click here
A plaint is
an utterance of grief or sorrow, a lamentation. A complaint is an expression of
dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure or resentment. The two words come
from the same root and are remarkably similar, yet also subtly different, and
it is very sad that the former has virtually disappeared from the English
language, save only its misuse in the word plaintiff, which should really be a
complaintiff. This note, on the other hand, is both a plaint and a complaint.
 |
"Jacob and Rachel" by Gustav Heinrich Nacke, 1786-1835 |
Is
it really so remarkable that a man came to a well
and
met a woman who he found attractive?
I
came to the same well.
I
found a man attractive.
Yet
my coming does not even earn a paragraph.
Is
it really so extraordinary that a man waited
seven
years to obtain his love,
and
slaved, and counted every minute,
only
to be cheated at the last?
I
also waited seven years, and slaved,
and
counted every minute.
I
also was cheated at the last.
Yet
my disappointment does not even merit a sentence.
Is
it really so historic that a man continued waiting,
adding
another seven years,
fleeing
at the last?
Did
I stop waiting?
Did
my feet not also burn the dust in flight?
Yet
my determination is not even worth a mention.
Your
story will be told, my husband, my patriarch.
Your
story will require whole chapters.
Yet
I who shared your longing, your dream, your bed,
my
name would not even be remembered
if
I had had the same patience
for
another man.
"The Plaint of Rachel" is published in "Welcome To My World, Selected Poems 1973-2013", The Argaman Press. Click here to purchase the book.
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Copyright © 2014 David Prashker
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The Argaman Press
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