A Poem for Palestine

Hm . . . I started work on this poem over five years ago. I think I am going to let it go now. It is odd — not exactly a poem, but not exactly anything else either. The punctuation seems haphazard, as do line breaks and grouping techniques. But then again, this is Palestine we're talking about — Eretz Israel. I think I shall leave it be . . .

For Palestine,
My home:

Seraphim weep as children die:
a tooth for tooth
an eye for eye
promised land? a piece of sand.
understand? don’t even try.

guns of death
stones of hate
brotherhood—
a twist of fate

devils laugh
the children die
mothers cry out
why, why, why?

God is just
and God is good
God just loves
the ones he should

Jacob love
and Esau hate,
Ishmael—the Devil’s bait

hear them cry
watch them die—
or, content, just pass them by

blood-drenched sand
atoning hand

God, oh God,
why, why, why?

Judgment Day
time to pay
innocence washed away
holy land
a piece of sand—

leave the bodies,
let them stay

in the land for which they died
with their brothers, side by side

a fence of wire
to kill the hope
the worlds conspire
the youth do cope:

this one dies, and that one dreams,
this one prays, and that one screams.

are they Arab, are they Jew?
God can’t tell—
Christian
why can you?

Salam/Shalom
the words of peace

but then the burning of release

and pain sears flesh like edge of fire—
God hears our hearts, and death desire.

hope runs dry
as children cry
“A tooth for tooth
An eye for eye!”

but blood drenched sand,
from God’s own hand,
will be the justice in the land

as shadows cross
and pierced lambs die

how long oh Lord, must Seraphim cry?