Seduction

Children echo in our hearts
name, age, country,
birthed for slaughter...

Now flickering candles
in a hall
of horrors...

Your tears
for one beloved
nourish Tikva streets...

We wander
Jerusalem's ancient
bloody alleyways...

I am humming
Leonard's raincoat song,
you wonder what he thinks...

We wail at separate walls
with scribbled papers,
bobbing holy men...

Nearby, Jesus pilgrims
kiss his holy stone
trying to recuscitate God...

Sweet soldiers watch,
rucksacks sagging,
rifles half-cocked...

Flying out
of the soulless airport
I plan to seduce you...

Using Dead Sea ointment
You bought for me
To massage your feet...

We embrace the night
but no amount of fucking
brings the children back...

(Please read my short story, The Memory Girl, published by the international literary magazine, Litro, Litro.co.uk, click on Stories.)