Askelon

by Marc Mangel

If stone could char you would be charred

and chipped rather than only chipped

there you lie torn and battered

by time or waves and life

you pillars

your pillars sleep on the soft beds

your time has gone Askelon

 

Philistines are the eternal nation

and the waves are the eternal force

together they decimated you and left

your people caricatures of stone to be

gawked at or

classified

 

Do you long for rebirth Askelon?

for another day of uprigthness

and purity

Do you wish to breath and hum once more

alive

or perhaps remain undisturbed in sleep?

 

October 1972