Mortally Wounded

i am mortally wounded
inside a house of rubble,
my blood seeping out
morning glory vines
inside this heart of Palestine,

who shall sing
ice-blue tendrils of forgiveness
inside an empty House of God,
cold
with the morning light of denial?

an empty table
surrounded by empty chairs
no one lives here
any more

i am the lake slowly freezing
a swan
with an arrow through her heart
a shadowland
where
a newborn's cry is a cold wind
howling through pink dogwood memories
never more to flower
inside
a glass-cased coffin
a bulldozed olive tree
standing guard on its uprooted side,
i am a prisoner of a dying earth

the darkness is his
her eyes smolder
with presence
he is everywhere

the sun never asks the rain
forgiveness
as if dark clouds could hide
what shines,
why do you steal
another's light
pretend it's your own?
as if the grass were greener
because your words were
written on an artificial turf,
the pasture of your pleasure-making
deep inside a distant gong,
the long-lashed cow
asks not how high the moon ~
she flies
with all the green inside,
there are no shadows in the sun
when the bear sleeps
and the lion lays down
with the lamb.