From Jerusalem to Bethlehem

(Raanana, February 13, 2018)

Panthers lick the wild berries by the sea at dusk

Soon the moon will rise and dreaming eyes will close,

My hands' blind predilection for touching shapes

Prefer their coolness to their colors.

It's a time when God turns away from us

And spirits deafen themselves to our supplications,

When all the views of Jerusalem come together as one,

Where stone lions stop to sniff the trembling flowers

On their slouch towards Bethlehem.