Poem for Monday and Richmond Beach

Of Three Or Four In The Room 

By Yehuda Amichai 

Out of three or four in the room

One is always standing at the window.

Forced to see the injustice amongst the thorns,

The fires on the hills.

And people who left whole

Are brought home in the evening, like small change.

Out of three or four in the room

One is always standing at the window.

Hair dark above his thoughts.

Behind him, the words, wandering, without luggage,

Hearts without provision, prophecies without water

Big stones put there

Standing, closed like letters

With no addresses; and no one to receive them.

-------- 

Monday was mostly a chore day for me -- lots of laundry and cat cleanup -- but it was also a day of celebration watching news from Israel of the hostages returning. It was an uneven day online, because while most people I know were happy about the outcome even if they didn't like Trump claiming the credit, there are still those who are incapable of not letting their antisemitism dominate their reactions to everything in the form of some faux historical beliefs about Zionism and a fantasy Levant where Muslims lived in peace with each other and everyone else before evil Jews were responsible for British colonization, or maybe Ottoman colonization, and they can't keep their facts straight even about Machado's Nobel Peace Prize because they'd rather slam her for supporting Israel than say a single positive thing about her. 

Anyway, it's a lot. The local news was also covering a story that hits closer to home, the indictment of a man who abused and killed a dog owned by friends of Daniel and Cahaya while the dog was at the place where they used to board their own dogs, which is obviously extremely upsetting. And we found out that the grandmother of our nieces and nephews Madeleine, Noelle, Lukas, and James, the mother of their late mother, passed away a few days ago. I feel so depressing on what's supposed to be a happy day! In happier news, the Mariners won the second of their games in Toronto, a game we watched around a walk to the beach in absolutely perfect weather. In the evening we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas because it's October before the season premiere of Watson. Richmond Beach Saltwater Park in Shoreline: