The Angry Sons of Abraham

They're fighting again in the Holy Land,
Those angry sons of Abraham.

A Christian tourist sets afire
The Mosque on Temple Mount.
A Israeli doctor kills Arab boys
Who pray at the Patriarch's Tomb.
So from the church in Bethlehem
Muslims shoot back at Jews.

Everyone's god is on everyone's side
Say Moses, the Savior, the Prophet.
Perhaps they all could work it out
If only Jahweh, God, and Allah
Had not promised to each - forever:
This remnant Temple Wall,
This crumbled Sepulcher,
This Domed and rubbled rock.

The Light That Binds

As earth spins slowly to face its source
Along our jagged edge of dawn
We escape again the drag of dreams
To wonder what mix of grief and joy
Will spill on us today

See that moving line of light?
It swaddles us tightly together
Stronger than any other bond
Of place or creed or tongue or blood

Ah! If only all might see.

Tom Deiker: Since retirement from psychiatric hospital administration, Tom Deiker has formed a Des Moines community theatre company, Lucubrations, continues to write short fiction, poetry, and plays, has placed articles, essays, short fiction and poetry in several dozen publications, including: Cimarron Review, Fugue, Galaxy, Newsweek, and Plain Dealer Magazine.

Email: Tom Deiker

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