recovering notes from the deep, part 13

haifa, 1991

i'm going to catch hell

from the political and personal
for what comes out now
but if you can't say it
the way you feel it
why say it at all

we bicycled in the early morning

before the heat
through the haifa port area
before finally breaking out
into the countryside
heading north
past an orange growing kibbutz
with newfound friends
physicians from montreal
where fate brought us together
in a somewhat thatched hostel bungalow
the night before

we were animated

talking about what might lie ahead
even the world situation
came up and challenged
all preconceptions
they asked me about the last war
     the first gulf war
and all i could tell them was that
there were scuds from iraq
that hit residential buildings
killing several civilians
and that this was at a particular
tactical period when the israeli military
stayed out of direct conflict
so as not to upset
     somebody's grand coalition  
but really it was before my time in this place
and i certainly was no expert

but i knew the best bicycling roads

to akka or akko
as our eyes caught
each other's expression
we knew this might be karma

some details aren't as important

as the physical landscape
but i do remember the old walls
     in akka
and even more so
how the shadows wrapped around us
as i took her hand
for the first time

--- e b bortz