Tourists

O City of stories and legends,

of kings and queens

of prophets

of rebels

of gates and fences.

let me run in your streets

a child with no shoes on.

Let me walk in your streets

a historian.

Let me sit by your side street

a Christian

a Muslim

a Jew

waiting for prayer time

Let me hear the bells and the call.

O…Bethlehem,

Tell me where is your child?

Has he grown up?

What happened to his children?

Did he resist?

***

O…City of Jerusalem,

let me walk your Via Dolorosa

allow me to hang out with the tourists

John from Poland who is repenting

Sarah from the US who sees the child

Mohammed from Pakistan heading for El Aqsa

Can we sit and tell stories of other unholy places?

Can we talk of the child and his children?

Can we remove the syndrome away

Can we unholy this place?

***

O City of Gaza

Why don’t you have tourists

?