Poem: Child is Something Else Again, A
Author: Yehuda Amichai [or Amikhai] (1924–2000) [bio] 
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5      <firstname>Yehuda</firstname>
6      <lastname>
7        Amichai [
8        <i>or</i>
9        Amikhai]
10      </lastname>
11    </name>
12    <life-events>
13      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1924</date>
14      <date ty="death" circa="false">2000</date>
15      <text-value>(1924–2000)</text-value>
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17    <biography>y</biography>
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20
Translation by: Chana Bloch (1940–2017) [bio] 
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2<author>
3  <person id="1346" sex="2" role="translator">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>Chana</firstname>
6      <lastname>Bloch</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1940</date>
10      <date ty="death" circa="false">2017</date>
11      <text-value>(1940–2017)</text-value>
12    </life-events>
13    <biography>y</biography>
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16
1

A child is something else again. Wakes up

in the afternoon and in an instant he's full of words,

in an instant he's humming, in an instant warm,

instant light, instant darkness.

5

A child is Job. They've already placed their bets on him

but he doesn't know it. He scratches his body

for pleasure. Nothing hurts yet.

They're training him to be a polite Job,

to say "Thank you" when the Lord has given,

10

to say "You're welcome" when the Lord has taken away.

A child is vengeance.

A child is a missile into the coming generations.

I launched him: I'm still trembling.

A child is something else again: on a rainy spring day

15

glimpsing the Garden of Eden through the fence,

kissing him in his sleep,

hearing footsteps in the wet pine needles.

A child delivers you from death.

Child, Garden, Rain, Fate.

To cite this poem:

MLA
Amichai [or Amikhai], Yehuda. “Child is Something Else Again, A.” Translated by Chana Bloch. Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. 2026. Columbia University Press. 22 Sep. 2026. <http://www.columbiagrangers.org>.

Chicago Manual of Style
Yehuda Amichai [or Amikhai]. Translated by Chana Bloch. “Child is Something Else Again, A.” Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. http://www.columbiagrangers.org (accessed September 22, 2026). 

          
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11      <source-title>Art &amp; Love; an Illustrated Anthology of Love Poetry</source-title>
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68        <line n="5">A child is Job. They've already placed their bets on him</line>
69        <line n="6">but he doesn't know it. He scratches his body</line>
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73        <line n="10">to say "You're welcome" when the Lord has taken away.</line>
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78        <line n="13">I launched him: I'm still trembling.</line>
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82        <line n="15">glimpsing the Garden of Eden through the fence,</line>
83        <line n="16">kissing him in his sleep,</line>
84        <line n="17">hearing footsteps in the wet pine needles.</line>
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