from Thread by Thread

Thread by thread
knot by knot
like colonies of ants
we weave a bridge...

Rachel's is white
Yemina's purple
Amal's is green
Salima's rose-colored
thread by thread
we stitch together
torn hearts
bind the map of conciliation.

I pray for the life of Ami and Nitsi
you pray for Ilan, Soshi and Itsik
and she prays
for Jehan, Asheraf and Fahed
with the same tear.
Word and another word
prayer and another prayer
and our heart is one
we embroider in hope
with the sisterhood of workers
a map of love
to tear down the borders...

--Bracha Serri
Translated by Shlomit Yaacobi and Nava Mizrahhi

(U.S. General Peter Pace: "The Sunnis and the Shiites will have to love their children more than they hate each other." And that goes for Arab and Israeli and all the rest of us....) For an EXCELLENT take on this, please read Paris Parfait's guest Neil Kramer's wonderfully written piece: Counterpoint. Find Paris Parfait on my bloglinks to the right.