I’m going on a trip
Before I leave
I want to say
Having lived here
four years
as a Jew
three
as an Israeli
an oleh chadash
I’ve learned
how very lucky I am
Lucky
I can sleep without fear
of
bang
in the middle of the night
a rifle butt
on my door
Lucky
I don’t hoard food
because a loudspeaker on a jeep
isn’t going to tell me
I can’t go shopping
I’m under curfew
Is it luck?
Lucky
I can marry
a woman
and we can live together
without restriction
in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
even Hebron
Lucky
I can walk the streets
of this Holy City
this Inter-National
City of Peace
leaving my ID at home
Lucky
when I looked for an apartment
it didn’t even cross my mind
how landlords might respond
to my name
Luck?
or racism?
Lucky
that through my tap
runs all the water I need
all the water I want
Lucky
to go swimming
in pools, lakes, rivers, oceans
and not be confined
to floating
on a tiny section
of the Dead Sea
Lucky
I can protest
these things
get arrested
and know I’ll be home
in 48 hours
max
beatings?
torture?
hah!
Luck?
racism?
or fascism?
Lucky
that when land is expropriated
for Public Use
the public
always includes me
Lucky
I can write this
distribute it
eagerly
for publication
and it might get published
Lucky
I have a passport
to keep in my drawer
and use whenever I want
to get the hell out
and still come back
Luck?
racism?
fascism?
or Zionism?
So lucky
it makes me want to cry
Jerusalem
November 1995