I Stand With . .
By Timothy Holmberg
I stand with the noon sun unblemished by the smoke of bombs
A sky unmarked by the cotton streaks of missiles.
I stand with a damp peaceful and still morning air. Sweet with the sweat of Jerusalem sage. Unshattered by the thud of bombs or the crackling of gunfire.
I stand with dirt smudged children. Playing with the same sand. Still untouched by the hatred around them.
I stand with a tree sheltering birds, before they spring to flee the explosions around.
I stand with the infirm, too frail to run barefoot on broken glass.
I stand with the dead woman, face frozen, hair glued to her cheeks by blood. Who knows the only peace this world has left in it.
I stand in the cemetery all grown over and healed for a lack of fresh graves.
I stand with my finger in the barrel of a gun. Ready for you to shatter me, on the slim hope you might stop. And then get others to stop.
I stand with decency, with humanity, with empathy that finally takes hold.
And until then, I kneel with stinging salty tears and bloodshot eyes. Crusted knees on sharp gravel, praying the insanity stops.
I stand with peace, and only with peace.
I wrote this in response the the usual “I Stand With” memes that pop up every time an atrocity or other horror rears itself. I understand and even participate in the expressions, even when they are mostly performative. We seek some way to affect the things we cannot control. Maybe we donate. Some things lend themselves to such an expression. Clear, unambiguous horrors. To some, Israel and the terror of the attacks of Hamas represent that kind of unambiguity. To others, it is a decontextualized view that fails to recognize the dragging day to day horror of what has been termed “the world’s largest open air prison”. I don’t have an answer to that. I see both. I see a media failing. I see our own politics failing. I see hurt people wanting to hurt and revenge. I see blood watering thorned plants and toxic soil. I see danger in not saying the word STOP.