israeli politics

I was about to write an old friend, who now sees me as a leftist enemy, that I forgive him, But I knew it would only ignite him even further – I knew it would make him think I’m playing holier-than-thou and he’d hate me even more.  This is all because I invited my long-time friend, Alicia Ostriker, to speak with me about her long career in poetry.  

If I forgive him for repeatedly trying to make me look and feel like a traitor, who would I not forgive?  

And that leads me to the question of what forgiveness is.  I have so many enemies – some who would be happy to kill me, some who I have wronged, some who are simply resentful that I exist.  If I did not forgive the soldiers who smashed my cousins against the wall of their house, if I did not forgive the Nazis who made my mother’s life so dangerous she aborted two children with her own hands, if I did not forgive the guy who blew up my friend in the middle of the street – how could I live?  What kind of life would I have?

 

february 15, 2022 – forgiveness Read Post »

israeli politics

we live on the Syrian-African Rift. This is no surprise to anyone who lives here, because newspapers have been screaming warnings for years – like here.

Cities have been destroyed in the past, but today, when my friend was asked to move because her house was in danger, it hit home.  We have recently spent hours with engineers examining every crack in our building (at my request) to evaluate the necessity of strengthening the foundations of our construction – and were informed that we’re not in a very dangerous area, so we can stay here.  This helped me to sleep that night and many nights after.  But my friend is even older than we are, and the thought of leaving the house they have raised the children and grandchildren is terrifying.  

We’ve already mentioned tsunamis in our neighborhood, and earthquakes too – but now we also have the possibility of total instability with Hizballah, Russia, etc., there’s nothing to hold on to

february 14, 2022 – earthquake Read Post »

israeli politics

Usually I don’t mind when someone who lives in another country complains I’m not loyal enough because I question the government or believe in friendship with all neighbors, but today some guy really got me angry when he criticized my choice of friends and I let this barrage emerge.  it’s not quite a poem, but…it’s a bit of me.

 

Figures of Zionism

 

Lets start with the financial records –

I pay thirty percent of my salary to the government

if we include VAT, which is on everything, even the berries

I can’t afford.  And then
we give another few percent to charity,

mostly cancer and culture.
I don’t mind any of it.

I don’t even consider what I would have made

if I had continued working in the U.S.A.  or even

if I had brought my husband to earn a fortune there.

 

I do think of my kids –

spending their good years in the army –

when my American friends

were sending their offspring to good schools.

I think of the weekends of laundry

wondering how to get out those stains

of mud and blood and terrifying sweat.

I think of my sons-in-law and my nephews

and how they disappear for days into places

we can only read about weeks later,

my one-eyed husband assigned to spot rockets,

while his family shivered in shelters.

I think of my college friend, living alone on the border,

with her books in the safe room to keep her mind off

what she could do with her walker if someone came in.

I think of how I injured my back running down to the shelter

with a child in my arms and another holding on.

I think of my widowed friends, the gaps in all of our lives,

and I wonder who can say I have not committed to this
country.

it may be i can take a shower tonight or tomorrow morning, and maybe I can sleep without running to the shelter, because it was just said we took out the 16 rocket launchers that were aimed at us.  i imagine that if it is 16 launchers there are 2 guys to a launcher and all of them have families that will be mourning tonight.  

So how can I sleep with all those people mourning? 

it may be i can take a shower tonight or tomorrow morning, and maybe I can sleep without running to the shelter, because it was just said we took out the 16 rocket launchers that were aimed at us.  i imagine that if it is 16 launchers there are 2 guys to a launcher and all of them have families that will be mourning tonight.  

So how can I sleep with all those people mourning? 

february 13, 2022 – figures Read Post »

israeli politics

put all the pictures together.  The kids are learning to surf just in front of the pcr check center.  Then if you turn around they are opposite the tsunami instruction signs.  It might be a good thing to know how to surf if there’s a tsunami.  But it’s still winter around here, and all I want to do is sit at my favorite cafe and look at the sea, forget everything…

 

february 11, 2022 – beach Read Post »

israeli politics

there is no doubt that Ezi and I have been existing on comedy.  It emerges in the strangest places, and sometimes makes life easier for others, but sometimes falls on antagonistic ears.  And I never know whether someone is laughing or whether they are smiling politely and wondering when this crazy lady will shut up.  Some of this is due to the isolation we’ve been experiencing as the rest of the world returns to normal, leaving us old people who are immunosuppressed to fend for ourselves.  One tiny example: after the serious and dedicated pharmacist filled our tri-monthly subscriptions and asked me if there was anything else, I muttered “a hand cart” and for the first time in five minutes, he laughed so hard I could see his expression behind his mask.  This made my day.  

february 10, 2022 – comedy Read Post »

israeli politics

The guy came today to connect the emergency button, and he left us a cardiogram machine that connects to the central clinic as well.  And as he was demonstrating on me how the cardiogram works I detected a slight Russian accent and asked him where in Belarus he is from.  When it turned out he was from the neighborhood of my parents’ home town I asked him how to say panties in Russian.  “Trussiki,” he said, without missing a beat.  A cool guy in an emergency I’d say. 

meanwhile, the rockets were coming at us from Syria.  Sirens, shelters – it’s starting.  Good to know there’s Vlad around.

february 9, 2022 – underwear 2 Read Post »