Mensch & Meat

We gave bloody battle

Then violent death

To the meat

Filthy dogs

Dared bite the hand

That feeds

Vile vermin

That keeps forgetting

To be forgotten

Insisting on their history

Their suffering

Deserving annihilation

We forced them off

So this land could flower

Under our fair hand

We have watered

The desert

With their tears

The strong city

A charnel-scented

Slaughterhouse

And so it goes…

Hear, O God,

The song of

Mensch and meat.

From Canto for David, ten poems about Israel and Palestine. The introduction, dedications and suggested reading are on the Canto’s page.