Just Above the House

(Published on Poetry Super Highway 5.2006, for Holocaust Memorial Day)

Right here
right here
just above the house
the woo-oo
of police sirens
the thrashing hum
of helicopters,
which we see
from our yard

today
yet another
terrorist attack,
traffic jammed
unmoving
from Tel-Aviv
to Jerusalem

and then
the eight p.m. news,
which shows us the damage,
reports on the condition
of the wounded,
interviews witnesses,
brings the body count
up to nine

informs us of the capture
of suspects police
have been searching for
right here
just above the house
at the junction
where we wait for the bus
to Tel-Aviv

next week
is Holocaust Memorial day
and sixty-one years later
Jews still
cannot be complacent
when they walk
on the street,
go into a restaurant
not even here
in our own Land

© 4.2006 Helen Bar-Lev