The Tunnels of Gaza

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David and the Amalekite Flavius Josephus, Saul’s death is announced to David by the Amalekite who brings him the king’s crown and armband. In pain, King David tears his clothes. Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

As the temps in the Gazan terror tunnels rose

To a range between 1,400 degrees Celsius and 233 degrees Fahrenheit

The underground passage became a metro to hell

A 300 mile secret labyrinth

Turned into a hellish white heat incinerator

killing terrorists, exploding rockets and disintegrating reinforced concrete bunkers

White heat bombs turning tunnels of hate into crematoria

Crematorium with the words: The wrath of G-d scrawled on its walls

For revenge, vengeance and justice are his

But payback is hell for those living like rats in subterranean mazes

A purgatory of vaporized bodies

Vapors smelling like sulfur but tasting like justice

Old Testament vengeance

Angry mitzvot

Existential biblical justice

commanded in the 613

Saul’s two-edged sword forged of revenge and justice decapitated the demonic rapists and murderers

For committing unforgivable and unspeakable crimes

For the Amaleklites must learn

Jewish lives matter

Jewish lives are not cheap

So remember what Hamas did to the Israelites

Remember what Amalek did to us

Never forget

For Hamasian crimes must not be blotted out of our collective memories

This evil must be buried deep in the rubble of Gazan tunnels

Thank you Mort for another inciteful piece.—Joanne

Powerful.—Howard

Excellent- ISRAEL FOREVER—Sandy

Excellent.—Shelley

Perry, Thanks for sharing.—Mort

Good.—Jason

Agreed.—Barbara

Thumbs up.—Val

Thumbs up.—Sandra

Thumbs up.—Laurie

Thumbs up.—Perry

Thumbs up.—John

Thumbs up.—Steve

Thumbs up.—Joni

Thumbs up.—Geoffrey

Thumbs up.—Fay

Thumbs up.—Lewis

Thumbs up.—Ginger

Thumbs up.—Sam

Thumbs up.—Becky

Thumbs up.—Jonathan

Thumbs up.—Dara

Thumbs up.—Michael

Thumbs up.—Joanne

Thumbs up.—Randi

Thumbs up—Doris

Thumbs up.—Chava

Thumbs up.—Susan

Thumbs up—Carol

Thumbs up.—AlyD88

Thumbs up.—Barry

Thumbs up.—Holly

Thumbs up.—Daniel

Thumbs up.—Steve

36. Thumbs up.—Connie

Thumbs up.—Gerri

Thumbs up.—Susan

Thumbs up.—South Florida Writers Connection

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November 1, 2023

WHERE is HOPE

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Where does hope hide

In photos of cremated babies

What happens to hope in a world devoid of color

Can she bury her thoughts on this black and white planet

Layered in pulverized gray dust masking the faces of the decapitated

Or in the melted black ashes of iPhone pics of weddings and bar mitzvahs

Where does she hide in the body of a raped and mutilated 16-year-old girl

Do her hands cover her eyes on viewing the elderly butchered in their homes

And does she wipe away her tears with a red heart-shaped napkin

Raising her head and closing her eyes to avoid seeing the blood-soaked floors

Putting a cloth up to her nose

One soaked in sweet temple oils to avoid the stench of death

While covering her ears to avoid the wails of screaming orphans

And tasting the fear clinging the bodies of the hostages

All the while knowing that we’ll pray or say, “Hope is not lost”

And feel her fist dig deep into our gut

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October 27, 2023

A Secret Life

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I stare into the mirror, horrified by a new crop of gray hairs sprouting in my eyebrows. Counting the grays, I remind myself how these grays conquered my scalp and mustache. And I whisper, “Well, that’s life.”

And as I say the word “life,” a Gabriel García Márquez quote pops into my mind:

“Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.”

I love its simplicity.

I love its beauty.

I know my public life is shared and exposed with my readers. How sad or lucky for you.

I know my private life is only shared with my inner circle. How sad or lucky for them.

Finally, I wonder, “What about my secret life?”

I share it with no one.

I’m not Catholic, so I don’t share it with a priest.

I don’t visit a psychiatrist, so I don’t share it with a shrink.

But I do share it with G-d? (Yom Kippur)

Well, it’s still a secret life because G-d isn’t going to blab about it.

I might be sharing it with my departed relatives, if heaven forbid, they’re watching me.

Who knows? But they’re not going to rat me out.

Most of my secret life is buried in the earth of my past. Where I have edited it into strands of graying memories. Memories of what could have been, if only I had done that or taken a risk. Sad memories of lost opportunities. Happy memories of courageous acts leading to unforgettable experiences.

And some of these memories turn into dreams which I do not share with friends or family.

Secret white dreams hidden in my dark secret life. Where my imagination runs wild. And X-rated scenes appear from the land of make believe.

A make-believe world filled with thoughts created in the shower or on the bowl or in bed when I am alone;

A solitude world filled with sniffs and licks and X-rated thoughts.

Thoughts not to be voiced for fear of being labeled a “pervert.”

Okay perverts, now ask yourselves, “Would anybody pay the price of a movie ticket to see your public life or your private life? You know the answer.

But confess, your secret life would draw a line of viewers circling the theater.

And we all should thank G-d, for those short gray hairs, for the genius of Gabriel García Márquez, and for our X-rated secret lives.

For they make our lives so much more interesting.

I stare into the mirror, horrified by a new crop of gray hairs sprouting in my eyebrows. Counting the grays, I remind myself how these grays conquered my scalp and mustache. And I whisper, “Well, that’s life.”

And as I say the word “life,” a Gabriel García Márquez quote pops into my mind:

“Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.”

I love its simplicity.

I love its beauty.

I know my public life is shared and exposed with my readers. How sad or lucky for you.

I know my private life is only shared with my inner circle. How sad or lucky for them.

Finally, I wonder, “What about my secret life?”

I share it with no one.

I’m not Catholic, so I don’t share it with a priest.

I don’t visit a psychiatrist, so I don’t share it with a shrink.

But I do share it with G-d? (Yom Kippur)

Well, it’s still a secret life because G-d isn’t going to blab about it.

I might be sharing it with my departed relatives, if heaven forbid, they’re watching me.

Who knows? But they’re not going to rat me out.

Most of my secret life is buried in the earth of my past. Where I have edited it into strands of graying memories. Memories of what could have been, if only I had done that or taken a risk. Sad memories of lost opportunities. Happy memories of courageous acts leading to unforgettable experiences.

And some of these memories turn into dreams which I do not share with friends or family.

Secret white dreams hidden in my dark secret life. Where my imagination runs wild. And X-rated scenes appear from the land of make believe.

A make-believe world filled with thoughts created in the shower or on the bowl or in bed when I am alone;

A solitude world filled with sniffs and licks and X-rated thoughts.

Thoughts not to be voiced for fear of being labeled a “pervert.”

Okay perverts, now ask yourselves, “Would anybody pay the price of a movie ticket to see your public life or your private life? You know the answer.

But confess, your secret life would draw a line of viewers circling the theater.

And we all should thank G-d, for those short gray hairs, for the genius of Gabriel García Márquez, and for our X-rated secret lives.

For they make our lives so much more interesting.

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September 20, 2023