Yom Ha'atzmaut

Jaffa

The call bursts

over Kedem street.

The sunset bougainvillea shivers.

God is great.  There is no god

but

God.  Yesterday on the beach

a big wet dog trampled

sand all over my towel again and again.  

I yelled in Hebrew.  Lo! Züz!

But maybe it was an Arab dog.

My one Arabic word: shukraan.

Mahmoud Darwish wrote

As you return home, to your home, think of others

(do not forget the people of the camps).

Write it down!  I’m a white Jew

in a stolen city.  

Write it down!  Four fighter jets

swoop exhaust loop-de-loops over Jerusalem.

Write it down!  Giggling kids

wield inflatable hammers in blue and white.

At a cafe on the corner,

we order Arab food in porcelain oval dishes.

When my friend sneezes, I say labriut!