|
|
About
Contact Archive Donations Subscribe to Today's Situation | ||
 News from Israel
|
 Peace: Educational Resources
|
 Pleasure:Poetry and other Arts |
 Ariga's Amazon Bookstore
|
Home
Poetry || SubmissionsWalking My Son to DaycareBy Chris Voll The sun, below the hilltop forest's crown, does nothing for the thin strand slung between the front lawn maples, careless as a surplus hammock. Still, it's worth stopping for. Easily twice my height, the distance tree to tree - and to think some nameless spider had hurled itself into the nighttime wind and hoped for a favorable landing. Evil Kenivel at the Grand Canyon had less faith. My son, in his second summer, wants to know what I'm looking at. I show him what there is to see. Not much. But my mind, detached, rewinds Morning Edition, and plays back place names. Gaza, Dehaisha, Bet Lechem. I have seen their faces. Jenin, Balata, Beitjala I could spot across a crowded room, blindfolded. And I am faced again with yesterday's boy, surrounded by olive soldiers in flak jackets and visored helmets, M16s ready for action, terror, anything. When I found his picture online, I looked him in his screaming ten-year-old eyes caught inside the twisted T-shirt the soldiers snagged him by, and knew that I too would have wet myself. My son pesters at my knees, begs me to carry him. I wish my arms were strong enough for always. In the gaunt light of this oncoming day, I wish for enough hope to make it through. I wish for a favorable landing, for one of us at least. Chris Voll says, "I'm a father of two, and work as an editor at Plough Publishing. I want to add my voice to the call for peace, since it is always 'better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.' Today's Situation
Back to the top
If this page was useful, please consider making a donation or use Amazon links at Ariga to go to the biggest online store in the world and help keep Ariga going. Click over to the bookstore, check out Ariga's latest recommended book, or visit one of the subject areas that interest Ariga visitors: Yiddish || Middle East Affairs || Military Affairs || Religion || Hippotherapy (Horses and Feldenkrais) || Women's Issues || Pop Culture || Cooking || American Issues || Or click over to Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers
|
Ariga Recommends:
|
