so what conflict separates

so what conflict separates those nested about the Holy Walls?

The Great Coca Cola Machine?

nah, rasta millennial fellaheen only yawn on phones

aesthetically eying

considering passing beautiful people in shawls and tanktops

so what conflict separates?

bicycles adorn Mahane Yehuda marketplace alleyways,

straw hatted wanderers stroll the iridescent labyrinths,

some pushing grinning babies

some leashing two or three well-fed retrievers or German Shepherds,

wanderers clad in frayed leather sandals

haggling over Shabbos candles

green malachite prayer beads,

rushing past Hassidic tefillin sellers

pomegranate mango juice stalls,

and at long last mounting ancient dolomitic stone steps

reeking from centuries of civilization’s footsteps,

still glistening from the sweat

the tears of humanity.

so then what conflict separates

here in the Shuk HaCarmel,

while Erev Shabbat dawns another miracle,

the holy month of Ramadan inches on,

red onions, hummus with olive oil, chicken and lentils,

alus sikkeen watermelons,

bubbies teaching granddaughters brust recipes,

old men in kippahs and taqiyahs sipping tea through sugar cubes,

Russian and Armenian monastics hurrying along

trailing black and red robes,

a few nodding toward the rest,

 ignoring those hopeful children,

busy knitting modest sweaters in used bookstores.

so tell me what conflict separates

these Palestinians,

 all Jews, Christians, Muslims,

who light another cigarette whenever wanting to touch someone

and smoking constantly,

these Palestinians mastering the delicate art of civilization

through decades, dreaming of sunflower fields forever

as the hip percussionists slip into further sunrise raga masterpieces,

King David King Solomon

mantra inducing miracle workers,

these Palestinians praying to,

no, beseeching Adonai to grant peace,

these destitute chanting refugees

once adrift,

now blended throughout earth’s wide four corners

the four directions of the wind,

now are gathered here

attracted to the one Light,

clueless fireflies intrigued by the breath’s endless possibilities,

L’Chaim!

we are all solitary brief candles illuminating

racing past life’s gorgeously harrowing conflicts

“subhanallah…!

 this breakfast honey-soaked tea tastes delightful!”

so tell me what conflict separates those nested about the Wall?

5/23/2018