THE APPLE ORCHARDS OF BEIT LAHIA
‘The Carpet Bombing of Hamburg and Dresden’,
‘The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki’, ‘October 7th
and the War on Gaza’, might be chapters
in a book of moral tales, concerning
human ingenuity and indifference.
***
After the Pharaohs came the Romans, and later
the Crusaders, the Ottomans and the British.
The orchards remained untouched – fruited each year
abundantly. High dunes protected the trees
from the winds off the sea, the sandy clay soil
nourished the roots, and families tended them,
harvesting each apple as if it were
alive and crystal. Now, in no time at all,
not any time at all, they are gone
under rubble and dust – aeons wasted
of sunshine and nurture.
