On the day the war started
Jerusalem was hushed with the weight
of its stones and the roads empty
and I cursed the buses that
suddenly awakened, roaring like sleeping lions,
prey already queued at their mouths
and the sirens that jolted the day into
history, as happens in that city,
a Turkish coffee in the morning,
by sundown a crucifixion.

Wayne Karlin published nine novels, a collection of short stories, three non-fiction books, and a poetry chapbook.  He has received two Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Paterson Prize in Fiction, the Juniper Prize for Fiction, and the Vietnam Veterans of American Excellence in the Arts Award. Website: http://wayne-karlin.squarespace.com/