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| Fiona and Parrot, Christian Quarter |
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| Beam of Light, Church of the Holy Sepulcher |
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| Morning at the Dome of the Rock |
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| A Moment in Time |
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| The Western Wall, Women's Side |
She's an atheist now, and she seems happy with that,
Wandering through this old city with her father, the pastor,
Watching earnest pilgrims pray at the old temple's wall,
And climbing the ramp that leads to Haram al-Sharif, to Al Aqsa,
And so many beautiful dreams and so much human grievance.
She puzzles when a Waqf official approaches, when he
Asks her to pull up her sweater, just a little higher,
So there's less skin showing here among the holy places.
Her question's a fair one: What does any god have against skin,
If it's skin god put all these humans in, to begin with?
We spend days this way, walking slippery streets of stone,
And commenting on the beauty of faces, and the colorful ways
Our sisters and brothers dress themselves and talk about food
And carry huge trays of bread on their lovely heads.
And she smiles in the churches, and she pauses at the wall.
She listens, close, when the Palestinian woman talks about the hurt,
And she laughs when another friend laughs at the crazy spirit
Of this place and how it would all be better if religion went away.
I'm not so sure about atheism as a thing, but that's just me.
It's always seemed to me that everybody believes in something.
And the gift of this week is hanging out with Fiona, my daughter,
Stumbling through Jerusalem, seeing what it is she finds important and good,
Cherishing what my girl, who's not a girl anymore, believes.
DGJ
Jerusalem, Sunday
August 27, 2017
