Poem: Jerusalem Waiting for Salvation

Jerusalem Waiting for Salvation

In the marketplace
Museum of antiquities
The Old City in Jerusalem
Crowded with sightseers
Soothsayers, charlatans
Hypocrites and the like
I wandered through alley
Ways mingled with merchants
Drank hot honey & spice tea
In stone arched vestibules
Musty with incense
Bartered handcrafted wares
Bargain prices everywhere
Pottery, silver and gold
Icons, headscarves hued
Purples and reds,
Yellow, black and brown
White races mingled with mahogany
Chairs, tables, shelves
Overburdened with rosaries
Saints, sinners blended in nicely
In a cavalcade of languages
Uttered thoughtlessly
As a handshake among strangers
Miracles happen while waiting
For the graceful encounter
With the crescent, cross
The menorah reminder
Of the Vision of Zechariah
The light of nations
Is not by might,
Nor by power
But by God's spirit
Fish, bread and wine
Greco-Roman remnants
Traditions co-mingled
Past the Israeli soldier
Watching standing fast
Machine gun ready
With his black
Brimmed hat
Long coated
Companion
Positioned
By his side
Waiting impatiently
Pale gaze fixed
On the timed
Expansion
Of Jewish control
True believers
In Entitlement
Over all they survey
Though Arabic since
Ages past
Before the word
Jew was invented
Time freezes
In Jerusalem
As the millennia
Swirl past
As hell bent
Believers
Burnish
David's Star
As brightly
As the Christian soldiers
Crossed the Rubicon
Marched onward
Crusading
Rivals
Gang up
On Jerusalem's doorstep
Sealed with Solomon's
Pentagram
The endless knot
Of common humanity
Pretending
To exclusive
Rights
In the Words
Of the Muslim greeting
"Assalaam Alaikum"
Peace
Be on you
All

--- ENDS ---