$8
Poetry written on a 10 day trip to Israel
From the Introduction:
Sunday December 26, 1999 I received a phone call from one of my co-workers asking if I could leave for Israel three days later because she was sick and couldn’t go. A solid three seconds of thought later I had determined that there was absolutely no reason why I couldn’t. So I did. And there I was for ten days leading a group of college students around the Holy Land with my guitar at hand and cats everywhere. This book isn’t really about the cats, but trust me, they were there; at the Western Wall, on top of Masada, in front of the desert hotel at four in the morning, and outside of Mr. Li’s Kosher Chinese Food restaurant in Jerusalem. What can one say? “Meow,” I suppose. Israel is an amazing country. At any location you are a stone’s throw from several other countries. If you’ve ever watched the news, you know that sometimes stones are thrown.
Poetry from Feeding Holy Cats
One Hump or Two
We pass by the Camel Comedy Club
in the old city of Jaffa
Take my humps please
Medical Advice From the Religious Lady
They should play harps
instead of using Prozac
says the woman at the Biblical Harp Store
I suppose at the Prozac store
they don’t speak too highly of Biblical Harps either
Talking With Arabs
Walking through Arab village
Family invites us in for Orange Soda
mixed nuts and conversation
We only have twenty minutes
which is enough
to talk about football
North Carolina
and how they feel like second class citizens
They have beautiful couches
and children
more of both on the way
peace now
peace now
Flying Home from Tel Aviv
I am in the airport
I am on the plane
I am in the air
I am drinking water
Water leaks from plane ceiling
Doesn’t seem right
I have four shequels in my pocket
I am thirty one thousand feet and climbing
It is a different time everywhere
Girl next to me laughs like a Canadian
living in the Dakotas
I am duty free
I am salute the other passengers
I am still climbing
I am eighteen hours away
I am gone from Holy Land
I am hands smell like banana
I am leave guitar on Tarmac
I am in flight movie
I am eat
I am sleep
I am fly, fly, fly
