Let’s pretend the day after elections in the US, Trump gets the Republicans to protest the elections, and they don’t just protest, they start shaking the foundations. Every one in the party is threatened and their names are sullied. And the final announcement is only going to come in 5 days, time enough to actually strengthen and fulfill some of those threats. And all this while imminent war looms. A war that could destroy us.

A normal country would have transferred the government immediately and tried to get on with daily life. Somehow we’re intent on committing suicide.

I’ve noticed a number of my friends have come down with flus, colds, and a general sense of malaise. That connection between the individual and the political and sociological is nowhere more evident than here. If this was happening in the US it there would be much less effect on the single citizen. We’ve got to get this settled soon.

Even though I also know that once the decisions are made and things start moving, it’s going to be another mess. These people don’t agree with each other on most crucial issues. They just had to get Bibi out. Once they do, then what? What do we do with settlements? What do we do with civil marriages? What do we do with peace negotiations? These guys will never get together….

I am not letting myself believe in the change that’s about to happen. I keep thinking something’s going to screw it up – somebody’s going to get wasted, somebody’s going to fold, somehow this will not work out. It is almost impossible to conceive of the difference that may occur in our society. I’ve already gotten used to the fact that there’s no money for the arts or education, that there’s no point in applying for government funding for anything, that the universities have to beg for funding, that professors have to go around the world to find work and struggle to maintain their level of research. I’ve gotten used to living in a country that recognizes only religious marriages and divorces. Is it possible that things might change? Don’t count on it…

As the language on the left become more and more hysterical, most people I know have been turning away from the news, from politics, from talking about anything but our health and our pleasures. As Bibi prophecizes doom for the country, the end of the state, it seems more and more people have turned to fiddling. I myself wasted more than a third of my salary today on luxuries I had no real need of because if I’m going to get run over by hoards of Hamas, I might as well look good, no?

Do I think the government that will take over next week will destroy us? Not at all. But I do fear that the current incitement to violence is much worse than I remember before Rabin was assassinated. Of course, I am only referring to the violence of the right against the left. The violence incipient in this situation with Hamas is something separate, and needs to be handled by a strong yet wise authority. Our violence of left and right against one another makes us less capable of dealing with the really dangerous forces – who do want to destroy us.

i was happy when Meira said this is one of the best places to be.

there is something universal about the beach, all inclusive.

Who cares that we don’t have a government, that people are totally confused about their direction and the direction of the country. Who cares about the people who dis you and don’t respect you, and maybe want to destroy you? Who cares that your bathing suit is now tight even though it’s stretched out. Who cares about anything but the water, the sea, the tide, the beer and fries?

Meira has been around the world a thousand times, and we usually talk about galleries, and buildings and performances, but sitting before the sea there is nothing else.

Yesterday and today have been dedicated to Ezi’s 77th in between bouts of exhaustion. I don’t know whether the past war and the threat of another war in the near future are contributing to this exhaustion, or it’s the long-term side effects of the vaccination or some other evil eye, but it doesn’t feel right. Even though we were in one of my favorite places last night, Suzana, and it was almost as perfect as always, something is funny, strange. I think I need a little literary challenge.

i

I asked the guy at the grocery what he thinks of the political situation. Now he’s always incredibly positive and careful to help and not trouble any of his customers. That’s why we all love the grocery even though it’s much more expensive than a supermarket. Always optimistic. But his answer was the same one everyone else gives. “It’s troubling.” No one really believes Bennet is a leader, no one believes he’s mature, worldly, sophisticated. And our lives depend on his maturity, wisdom, sophistication, and delicacy. If he just knew Arabic I’d be a little less uneasy.

And yet, the possibility of the return of Bibi and his ruffians terrifies me even more.

From moment to moment the situation changes. When we left on Tuesday I asked the neighbor to take in our newspaper for us. “But be careful,” I added, “Don’t damage your health. Don’t read it!” She didn’t, and she hasn’t aged at all. Now me, I watch the news all the time, and I age from minute to minute. A moment ago I heard Miri Regev urging her followers to take to the streets, to protest. The phrase, “The left has sold the Negev” keeps coming up, because if there is an Arab representation in the government, we will have to give in to all the disputes, which is ridiculous. So what I’m worried about is not the new government, but no government. With nothing to lose, anarchy and chaos seems preferable to Bibi than losing his hold on the government. The danger to democracy doesn’t interest them. The only good news, I guess, is that people are blase enough that they probably don’t read the news.

I’m so happy to announce the publication of my latest article on poetry and medicine. It was the beginning of my research on exploring how poem sequences trace the development of disease like a fever chart = in some cases with great success. Poetry can sometimes help you get better. In this case, Henley was lucky to be a patient of the man who initiated the use of antiseptic, who kept patients apart, who washed his hands – who used many procedures over 150 years ago that now save our lives. I’m still amazed at this confluence of new medical and poetic techniques. It’s called Chronicling medical progress: W. E. Henley, Joseph Lister, and recovery and it’s here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08893675.2021.1921476