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