I oft recall with sad and tender smile
The day I first did hear your noble words,
Which reaching were Euphrates and the Nile,
From Voice of Peace upon the sea reposed.
Since then I’ve read about your dovish gall,
Like flying freely into Nasser’s net
Or sailing solo through the barred Canal
With streetwise faith in Arab etiquette.
Yet now you sit alone in Jewish gaol
For spurning laws unjustly made by hawks
(Whose so-called peace initiative will fail)
To stop all others from pursuing talks.
But don’t despair, O Abie, your prophetic deeds
Have spawned and planted many hopeful seeds.
Jerusalem
6 June 1992