Jerusalem Stronghold Assaulted
By Genevieve Cora Fraser
Caught in the struggle
Lost in the cause
Destiny trudges
Enduring
Vines spindle
And fruit die
Of the root
Cause
Anchored
Zion Oh Zion
Calls to the fierce
Fights to the finish
Your land or mine
The holy oil spills
In the sacrificial rite
Golden rocks border
The road to Jerusalem
Gouged blood red
Stone spills
Onto blacktop
Canopied by a vast
Blue sunlit sky
Forlorn as the prophets
From the safety
Of the taxi
I watch Palestinians
Slammed into railings
Arms twisted back
Handcuffed
Automatic weapons
Thrust at their heads
Israeli defenses spread
Like a cancer black
And webbed eviscerate
The soft tissue
Peace of the sacred
The dead Jerusalem’s
Old City weathered
By usurper assaults
Echoes Aramaic
Down archaic passageways
Along the ancient Arab paths
Through Jerusalem rung thick
With gated walled defense
Israel cements
It’s Will with Walls
Snakes and constricts
Controls resolve
Rusted keys
Unlock the past
But break
Unable to lock
Out the enemy
From within
ENDS