Masada
The air over the Dead Sea
shimmers and pulsates
like a force wall
from a sci-fi movie
I squint outwards
into the heat
It bounces off the
canyon walls of En Gedi
and distant shores of Jordan
I am standing on an ancient
fortress rising from
the baking dust of the
arid desert gently sloping
above the acidic waters
Moans of the dying
and screams of the anguished
echo up from the
valleys of history
I can see the vultures
as they circle in lazy
lurid loops above a dying
sunset
Blood lies in pools
and runs in rivulets
from every abode
They had no other choice
we are told
Women and children first
Slain by the men's swords
then these slew each other
until only one remained
taking the curse upon himself
He fell on his own blade
The Romans were defeated
before they even breached the gates
The air over the Dead Sea
shimmers and pulsates
like a force wall
from a sci-fi movie
I squint outwards
into the heat
It bounces off the
canyon walls of En Gedi
and distant shores of Jordan
I am standing on an ancient
fortress rising from
the baking dust of the
arid desert gently sloping
above the acidic waters
Moans of the dying
and screams of the anguished
echo up from the
valleys of history
I can see the vultures
as they circle in lazy
lurid loops above a dying
sunset
Blood lies in pools
and runs in rivulets
from every abode
They had no other choice
we are told
Women and children first
Slain by the men's swords
then these slew each other
until only one remained
taking the curse upon himself
He fell on his own blade
The Romans were defeated
before they even breached the gates
I stand on the edge
staring at the crumbling walls
and fallen bricks
letting the sun
beat on my
bare head
I wonder if I would
have done the same
to escape slavery
and living death
The hot air rises
from the Dead Sea
fans my dripping face
and I taste
salt
On the Shores of Galilee
I walk down the shore
on a dirt path
away from my hotel
as cars belch fumes
on nearby roads
and bikini clad
swimmers soak themselves
in the nearby swimming pool
surrounded by perfectly
manicured green lawns
He walked here
his bare toes upon
the pebble strewn shore
so small
this three mile
half moon of land
around the Galilean Sea
Bethany, Capernaum, Tiberius
All within my naked eye
He sweated
on wooden boats
as he fished
and under the midday sun
he burned
My own feet stand on a dock staring out
onto the water he quieted
and the cities he lived in
They feel so gritty, so dirty and so loud
as techno-pop music ripples
across the water
where gaudy lights glow
Over the concert’s steady beat
a starry-eyed couple is kissing
in the dark
I can hear their quickened breath
I am standing where he walked
dirt in his fingernails
where a woman washed his feet
with her hair
Only a few minutes’ walk
from here
He danced at weddings
drank wine
and laughed with the men
I feel the weight of the night sky
he once gazed at
pressing in with the reality
of his humanity
and the unity of this
with my own desperate
longings
I think of how
I sailed in a wooden boat
a few hours ago
on this sea
no storm
and no oily fishermen
just jet skis
following our waves
and the hum of our modern engines
as droplets of water
sprayed my sunburn cheeks
He walked on this water
he was here
just as I am now
I close my eyes
and breathe
wondering what
he would have smelled like
and I hear the water
lap against the rocky
shores
