“Sitting under the vine and under the fig tree
and none to make us afraid.”
We have our vine and fig tree
a small flat in Jerusalem
with a little succah balcony
And none to make us afraid
except for missiles from Gaza
threats from Iran, Hamas
UN declarations, Hezbollah,
daily knifings and shootings
rammings and road rage
Haters on campuses
in the Americas, in Europe
in the press and public squares
And our fragile raucous democracy
and Biblical polarizations—
yet what would my German grandparents say?
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Jerusalem artist Ruth Schreiber is a painter, sculptor, photographer, installation artist, and poet. Her subjects relate to life cycle issues, heritage, memory and place.
Photo credit: Photo by author