Poetry

                              „For in him we live and move and have our being.”
                                                                 Acts 17,28

I was searching you in the streets of  Jerusalem
among the stalls of the Old Town
walking on the sloping stones of the Roman era
staring at the palpable faces of the Palestinians
Jews, Armenians – on the focused visages of pilgrims and tourists.

I was looking for your blood and sweat on Via Dolorosa,
on Litostrotos where Pilate judged you
in the Upper Room - next to King David's grave,
in the Garden of Gethsemane which thick twisted olive trees
are still telling the story of the Paschal Night,
under the Wailing Wall, listening to Jewish prayers
I was searching for your wisdom and joy
on the Mount of the Temple where you walked and taught.

I was looking for you in the place of the former Golgotha
I tracked your pain, anxiety and suffering
I opened my heart to your love
and the creative power - for your immortality,
I tried to understandyour eternal victory
over death and evil.
 
I've been searching for you from dawn to dusk
restless that I will not find you,
but you were everywhere
supplied with your power,
you were always ahead of me
I almost felt your breath
the rustle of your robes
and the sunny scent of your body.

I tried to reach out to touch you
but you suddenly turned and disappeared
- then I felt and understood
You are, Adonai, closer to me
than I - to myself.
 
 
2005