a poem for berlin and for us

the fall of the berlin wall was just a taste

when we no longer feel trapped by the familiar

when we feel free to pass through gates

when we feel free to be who we are,

no longer suspected, no longer hated, no longer threatened

when we feel free to run past the bullets

and cry to the other, the one on the other side

You are my brother,

when tears and hugs of joy

Jew and Gentile

when we are thankful

to be

when the wall inside of us has gone down

and we no longer have to hide

or scream because we feel threatened,

then our land becomes champagne, popping open

and pouring over our neighbor

when Arab and Jew, when brother says to brother

I will protect you

then will unleash the force of life

death overcome, graves opened,

the tyranny of the walls will be gone

no one will stop crying,

laughing, yelling, singing,

climbing up and over and back again

(was it real?)

no one will stop waving banners

everyone will dance,

this nation did it

known for their reserve

they did it,

they got drunk and silly

and soldiers forgot their bullets

and children stayed up all night

and everyone forgot to let go of each other

Recent Posts

Midrash on the Psalms

Reading the Psalms again today (little midrashing for you today!), as I often do, as they seem like the center (and therefore centering parts of

Read More »