Grains and grains of golden sand

White foam of waves spraying

My roots are deep in you, my land,

Like the acacia near me swaying.
 

Few weeds: some here there more

Scattered by nature's careless hand

"A Scotland for the poor"

Yet I love you, my land.
 

A desert arid and bare

With a special grace and charm

My memories you share

Of times of joy and times of harm.
 

Tracks of turtle and of snake

Tracks of man, child and pet

See the pattern that they make

Don't destroy that pattern yet!
 

The people simple and sweet

Sometimes foolish, always kind.

You they'll always be glad to greet

The same fate does you bind.
 

Our lives so calmly passed here

Like the gentle waves of sea

Then, drowned in five years of fear

Outward calmness hid the torrent in me.
 

Red tiled roofs how snug you lie

Upon walls so very white!

Here we live and here some die

As to keep you we still fight.
 

Oh seashells pink and fair

Oh blossoms gold and round

When mortars fall who would dare

To lift you from the ground?
 

I hide inside my room

Until they say "all clear".

Or just ignore the boom

Though danger is quite near.
 

And fences all around me;

We are caged in like a lion.

They say it's for our safety

Can this be happening in Zion?!
 

I feel so alone;

Arab and Jew hate us.

We're to be tossed like a bone

With very little fuss.
 

Prayer vigils, blocking streets,

Orange streamers, going door to door

During sunshine and during sleets

How to save us? We aren't sure.
 

Still, a plover in the sky

Curiously looks down

The Gush seen from high

Is like a diamond in a crown!
 

Oh grains and grains of golden sand

What is to be my fate?

Shall I lose you from my land

Shall I lose you from my state?

By Shifra Shomron
(18 years old)
3 Tamuz 5765

_________________________End of Story___________________________

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