Four Years After Israel

Four Years After Israel

There is no forgetting that hill
Those endless stairs
Like a torture device
We climbed and climbed
With young, undaunted feet

There is no forgetting the voices
Shrugging throats
Eyes defensively sizing
Our intentions, our naiveté
The motive behind our presence

There is no forgetting ancient stones
Cut to fit
Clutching the cries
Of a tremulous nation
A people pleading with a retaining wall
For peace...for a miracle

There is no forgetting the sky
Clear as pools by day
Evening flaming over the balcony
With dusky intensity
But in the night
Chopped like liver
By the ginsu of helicopters
The rattle of gunfire
The terror of murder

Forgetting is too easy
I refuse to forget you
My distant love
Source of my joy
Womb of God
Tomb of death
Light of the nations
City of Gold.

(c) Tasha Chinnock 2006