Palestine

          Haunted Springs and Water Demons*
          dot the schist bedrock
          of Jubilee County
          Canaan

          out of this mesmeric table
          whirs ‘En Karim
          with Christ and you—
          and fields of wild emmer
          sighing under the heft of cannabis
          and desperate projectiles squelched in the air

          they breached my dreams
          the 27th night of Ramadan
          while I was taking stock of olives
          in the lee of the latest regime

          and the nurses sang in Syriac

          [*Haunted Springs and Water Demons in Palestine, Dr. Tawfiq Canaan, 1922]

Josh Lipson is a student of history, language, and the mind based in Virginia, by way of New Jersey, Cambridge, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and San Francisco. His work has been featured in Obra/Artifact, Angel City Review, Homonym Journal, Briars Lit, Burning House Press, and Revue Post.   TWITTER

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