When in that chamber of Jerusalem
Where Jews with Arabs read the works of Will,
How often I have wished to speak with them
About why peace eludes some nations still:
Why West revives the spirit of Versailles,
Which triggered Hitler’s psychopathic state;
Lets victims’ awesome heirs here occupy
Their scapegoats’ lives, and vengefulness create.
Yet hope I must, for Shakespeare makes it clear –
As does Hillel’s or Yeshu’s Golden Rule –
That empathy, if just, can heal a Lear
And stop a wounded soul from being cruel.
Though Henry Fourth’s crusade he rightly banned,
The Bard himself has reached the Holy Land.
Jerusalem
16 April 2006