We Are All So Polarized Now

“Not the peace of a cease-fire,
not even the vision of the wolf and the lamb,
but rather
as in the heart when the excitement is over
and you can talk only about great weariness…
A little rest for the wounds — who speaks of healing?”
~Yehuda Amichai, 'Wildpeace' 

Sad side effect

of a terrible war:

we are impossibly polarized.

When I was young

and supremely didactic

when I was young

I was wildly judgmental

about everything: politics,

private schools, typeface, food,

even love. Now, although

I am not mellow

I still have my own opinions

(Cease Fire one of them)

I try not to be upset

with the deluge of emails

explaining this complex

situation in adamant ways

genocide

anti-semitism

colonialism

Holocaust

Columbia

demonstrations

and river to the sea.

Hearing one another

is often hard

and sometimes

impossible. We

have no choice but

to try.

A few days ago at JFK

an LA couple

were arguing about Gaza

in the passport line

with a young Jewish

Columbia student .

I didn’t join them.

For sanity: I listen to music