Yiddish brown eyes personified

temping absolute cozy communication,

LA angels had winged her to this place

where tangy olive oil hummus gently kisses

fresh baked challah,

and four white doves coo:

“love, love me do, you know I love you”

Lonely Planet guests stroll along bountiful garden paths

among prickly pear cacti in red purple bloom

and gardenias and tulips saturating the Safed earth,

while Dutch girls play 23 questions on hammocks

later retelling stories of Old Amsterdam shuls,

with German couples devoutly celebrating Anne Frank,

South Africans dreaming of Aliyah,

all this as Dylan strums his Johanna visions

through the wetted eucalyptus leaves

over tomorrow’s breakfast hot black tea with Russian sugar cubes,

tanta revisits her cherished, venerable memories,

children laughing and spilling grape juice on Passover Seder tablecloths,

smoking uncles playing pinochle noshing on sour pickles,

cousins cheating and arguing at hopscotch and stickball,

a chicken soup and lokshen Shabbos with Bubby

surrounded by walls of

1930s weathered photos of shuls and neighbors

late evening at candlelight

after toasting for Peace from Negev wine bottles,

tanta treats us to crusted maps of Lake Tiberius

with planned winter hikes along the Jordan River,

and as Calilily kisses smooch the Tsfat sky,

we are inspired further

 onto a much higher ground

Safed Inn

Tsfat, Israel

May 21, 2018