BY JESSICA URSELL

the July 4th rat a tat tat

fireworks finale sounds

no holiday hotdogs here

only a fusillade of bullets

 

our porch door

creaking

no longer a sign

of lazy summer

now suspicion

is all it brings

 

Who will enter?

 

my rational mind knows

we’re in the US of A

it must be friends

but the October 7th Terror

takes control

and fear and foe

surge through

 

robbing my mind

of whatever wit

I used to possess

 

rending the peace

I once felt

in my country home

in my home country

 

sweet is now bitter

stinging

sharp cuts on my tongue

a relief

a release

 

from wretched thoughts

nine months long

(First published by Iron Words: Israel War Stories on August 7, 2024)