Jewish Poem of Contrition

(Safa.ps/Flicker)

By Darren Stein

There is no hiding from the screams of a child,
Baby forms shredded by shrapnel,
Little bodies broken by bricks;
It makes me sick to look upon, ashamed as
both a human being and a Jew; the tortured
anguish of my conflict of loyalty and identity;
Yet, I owe my integrity first to my humanity,
and then only to my tribe.
I must weep for blood that is not my own.

– Darren Stein’s most recent work has been published in Poetica, Pearson Education, The Journal of Microliterature, Rangitawa Press, Twelve Winters Press, HeadSpace and others. His second volume of poetry, The Nut House Poems, will be published by Red Dashboard Publications in 2015. He contributed this poem to PalestineChronicle.com.

(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered 501(c)3 organization, thus, all donations are tax deductible.)
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6 Comments

  1. yesterday a smile with parents,
    today a tear as an orphan,
    will tomorrow bring a smile?
    or shall this tear,
    become cries of despair,
    more tears than smiles,
    This is our life,
    life of the people of Palestine.

    • Thanks comrade for your beautiful reply which in its essence is a poem too!
      Long live Palestine!

  2. Hello Abba, remember me?
    I’m not the boy I used to be.
    I Fell in Love, yes, I took my time.
    A girl, whose Father was born in Palestine.

    So I clasped her hands,
    Her Fathers too,
    Her Tata and Sido,
    For I love them so.

    If I could ask dear Abba,
    In this time of strife,
    Let the Palestinians free,
    They need life.

    I kiss our Son every night,
    But deep down I have a plight,
    Every child needs a Kiss of Love,
    Please release,
    The Sacred Dove.

    I Love you, the Fathers, Mothers and Children of Palestine, May Peace soon reign over you. X

  3. A beautiful poem about, in times like these, where one’s loyalty and integrity truly lies.

  4. I wake up to see a better world
    I wake up to see a happy world
    children makes us laugh
    children makes us love
    searched for cute babies
    found thousand babies
    first time they gave me real pain
    first and last time they are in pain
    coward soldiers killing innocents
    to wipe out tribe of those innocents
    mans duty is to protect
    mans duty is to resist
    now days only see blood n pain
    now days mind in deadly pain
    weeping inside for them
    praying deep for them
    still thinks why killing innocents
    still resists against killing innocents
    feeling ashamed for being human
    feeling guilty for being human
    trying to resist for them
    may be god bless them ..

    <3to Palestine.

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