Monday, August 16, 2010

Postcards from Tel-Aviv












Postcards from Tel-Aviv

Now I Remember

eating a business lunch
at Cafe 12 on Rothschild near Herzl
with Micah, my 14 year old son

pale, voluptuous full lipped waitress
in a pale violet dress
small black purse draped over her hips
very attentive, keeps cleaning our tiny table

outside the sun beats down
on the street, a dumptruck horn plays a tune
hebrew hebrew hebrew
again the horn
this is modern israel

Micah for some reason says
I know how to say Thank You in Italian
Grazi
and then starts remembering scene after scene
from Life Is Beautiful

Micah is trying to learn Hebrew
"please, bvacasasha"
"thank you, todah"
"excuse me, slicha"
and realizing that many hebrew words are english words
"my hands are bananas, y'adim sheli banana'im"

Abraham Hummus

It's a fiasco to find David's favorite places
and I'm sure this is the wrong Abraham Hummus,
but it's still good, I was supposed to go to the one next to George

Micah asks, "I wonder if you're in the air
if you would feel an earthquake

if you were a bird
just above the ground?


Untitled

WALK WALK WALK
hot hot hot
drink drink drink
WALK WALK WALK
HOT HOT HOT
FIND AC FIND AC
CAFE CAFE CAFE
HUMMUS SIT SIT SIT
EAT SIT SIT
STILL HOT, MORE COOL AIR COOL AIR
MUSIC, SIT, GOOD

Snapshot

The half moon setting over the sea
shines on the boardwalk
of the old Tel-Aviv port
now full of Israeli tourists

free live folk music across the port
the audience cheers for an encore
the tip of his long giant fishing rod glows green
in the dark he flicks his wrist
fish on, two fish on
small one goes in his bucket
smaller one he throws back in
puts on his bait, drops his line in again
people walking everywhere
stores and cafes open behind us
people passing by in front of us

a bugs bunny baloon walks by
teenage cell phoners
young man and his dog

another small fish into his water bucket
audience cheering on the music
older couple holding hands
woman in pink dress, high heels,
shield tattoo on her shoulder
slips, grabs onto her young daughter for balance

little girl with ice cream
"i want to see the fish"
mom and dad walk down to show her
the concert ends
the fisherman yanks his rod
comes up empty
the little girl walks away

Micah teaches me how to snap my fingers
and for the first time in my life
I make a snap
first with my right hand
and then with my left

the fisherman catches his biggest fish
of the evening and we walk on
amongst the crowd


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