“People Know My Lai”

Cal wrote to Carla Nguyen and me in an email: “People know My Lai (Or they think they do) People over 60 or so Remember the name Calley But what about the others? I don’t…

Some of What’s Not on Your CV

Your allusive ode to your soul-pal (“I am because you are”) That incendiary haiku you gave to Mona on the porch What prompted your most intense torrent of tears That photo of the blissed-out Hindu…

What Some People Say

Dear Rob Figured you’d enjoy this Since You’re motley like me Getting my near worthless 1976 BMW 2002 fixed at the AutoHaus I was sitting in the waiting room going over my Yiddish vocab When…

In a Parallel Universe/3

Sister Diana Ortiz put her arm Around one of the Hijazzi brothers Who’d recently gotten out of an Israeli prison And whispered to him, “I know…”

Checklist

Dear Bella Levenshteyn Johnny Yau and I came up with the following “application form” After drinking a couple of beers the other night Maybe you’d be willing to see If you’re ready to go to…

The Way It Looked in 2007

Beneath all the proclamations about Arab terrorism And the ethical nobility of the Jewish state Expropriation by any means necessary Is the master narrative necessary To comprehend the history of Israel/Palestine And so we arrive…

A Former Student Has Her Say

I was foolish to think I could get anything done in that café Someone invariably would come up to me and want to talk Like that Thursday, M marched right up to my table And…

Stealing History

When the Israeli Army invaded West Beirut in September 1982 Israeli troops entered the Palestine Research Center Defaced its interior Carried away its entire library Consisting of 25,000 Hebrew, Arabic and English works On the…