PLASTIC FLOWERS IN PARADISE

I.

Plastic flowers propped up,
Standing in brass cartridge casings
Of former anti-tank shells.

The war is over Mohammed.
Its paraplegic losers roll back
towards their homes,
Twisted limbs and cutout hearts,
Twisted limbs and broken bones.

Black-masked steel,
Who is the mightier power?
Arab eyes?
Jew noses?
Who bleeds the history books?
Who paints their own people
In black oils?
Is this field mined?
Will this tree grow?

II.

"The car blew up over there."
He points at a charred stone wall.

"They came during the night in rubber dinghies."
She points towards a bullet-riddled villa.
My bones, your bones.
My brother, your son.
My son, your brother.
The war is over Ilan.
Your son is born into a world
Of blue ocean and sun and sea
And green orchards
And death
And death
And murder
And defense
And justice
And injustice
Your justice
Their suffering
Their justice
Your suffering
My justice.

III.

Jericho Oh Jericho has no more walls.
Jericho dry Jericho has no more tears.
No more tears to shed.
No more Psalms to sing.
No more graves to rob.

The Lebanon Oh sweet cedar scent
Burns and hands reach out from
The rubble, bubble, rubble, bubble
Bubble barrel oil.
In the West all is best.
Their B-52s bring our nourishment
While the other's Kalatchinakovs
Feed our children's imaginations.

Abraham's sons duel.
They smile at one another and show
Their teeth.

The Holy Land is riddled enough.
Mohammed take my hand
Our wheelchairs need oiling.