Beginning of Autumn in the Hills of Ephraim

At the side of the road that is being paved a group of workers, huddled together in the cool of twilight.

The last rays of the sun light up the men who did what they had to do with the bulldozer and steamroller that did what they had to do. Men and machines together in their faith that they won't fall off the planet. Already the squill has come up in the field and there are still almonds on the almond tree. The earth is still warm, like the head of a child under its hair. A first wind of autumn passes through Jews and Arabs. Migratory birds call out to one another: Look, human beings who stay where they are! And in the great silence before dark an airplane crosses the sky

and descends at the edge of the West with a gurgle like good wine in the throat.

Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated Sep/Oct 1996
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