“Love I sing, I say love”
–Meir Wieseltier
Liturgical Poem
Let’s pretend that the war here was made of love
An oppressed enemy swept away by love
A mutual, one-sided occupation of love
Bustling settlements swarming with love
The eyes of preachers in mosques bellowing love
In refugee camps, walls stained with slogans of love
The news every hour, sugared announcements dripping love
Roadblocks with barbed wires in the name of love
Terrorists infiltrating shopping malls buckled with love
Coexistence, a hollow word, an abandoned tank made of love.
by Shai Dotan
translation: Ohad Stadler
from On the Verge; Publisher: Am Oved,
Tel Aviv, 2005