And Nothing Happened

I step out my front door and in the distance, I hear a freight truck
and some cars. There is no thunder of tanks or rolling explosions.
I look around my cul-de-sac, the fences are straight and painted.
My neighbour has de-thatched his lawn. There are gardens quietly
resting in backyards, fruit trees are dropping their canopy of leaves
and are preparing to sleep, everything has been harvested, some
people have put up preserves, and all their houses are standing,
just the way they were built. Two homes down an older couple
have their garage door up and are sitting in front on lawn chairs.
They are not frightened or running away from something burning
or breathing the gas from spent artillery. A neighbour, who has not
just emerged from a bomb shelter, who doesn’t even have a bomb
shelter in his home, is smiling and walking across the street
towards them. Now he’s telling them a story about his vacation
to Granada and the charmed Moorish palace called Alhambra,
where nothing happened, and he saw no one torn apart or laying
under rubble. The elderly couple respond with their own story about
how their grandchildren came and visited for Thanksgiving, “We
were so happy to see them,” says Gramma, “oh, but the youngest,
a vibrant sprout of five, had fallen from a swing and couldn’t have
been happier about the pink cast on her wrist.” Farther up the lane
a woman wearing a western gabardine coat is getting ready to walk
her two dogs, a labradoodle and collie, they aren’t whining or cowering,
but are excited and they tug at their leashes. I’ve seen her before,
she will walk seven blocks up Fourth Avenue, then down to First,
where there’s a store called Share-Care that sells dog treats,
and other sundries for pets. All along her route, cars will pass, people
will pass by, some will wave in recognition, and not one missile will land,
not a single fighter jet will fly above her head, not one panicked scream.

If you have a moment, please read this statement (linked here), written and signed by Palestinians, Jews, and others who are committed to overcoming the seemingly irreconcilable and violent divide between the Palestinians and Jews. And if you agree, consider adding your voice.