Noon in West Jerusalem

No one thinks
they are risking their life
walking into a Sbarro’s
in America.

But at King George
and Jaffa
the pizza
sticks in my throat
and a man at the door
jumps up to search my bags
as I enter the
scene of the crime.

lizkor [“to remember”]
I come here—
not out of hunger or
false bravado
or even stupidity.

But to remember,
and to affirm
the right of the
Jewish people
to live in their land.

© 3/19/02, Lois E. Olena (Written at Sbarro’s restaurant, scene of the August 9, 2001 suicide bombing)

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