words are not relevant here

razor wire wall a bomb at a bus stop
bulldozers over bodies burning olive groves

there was once a lake of pure water
seagulls that gleaned the sands of kinneret
before it was called kinneret
before jericho or yerushaliyim
before mosesmohammedjesus
there were parched bodies of many species
survivors connected not by nation or ritual
but by the sustenance of the ground they touched
by the wind from a mountain before mesada
where the crust of the negev not named negev
marked calluses on feet of neither jew nor philistine
nor assyrian nor egyptian
but only on wanderers without title
or bible

before plastic bottles and oil slicks washed ashore
near the ruins of caesarea
there were king crabs and starfish
a connection with all the living oceans and currents
as far off as atlantis

before the checkpoints there were trails of rich pine forest
before messiahs there were just instincts and wit
to guide us

words are blood here
covenant history justice security
choose your word

--- e b bortz

(published in Jawbone 2002)