Jerusalem Stone

by Steven Sher (Jerusalem, Israel)

I slip in my Crocs on the steep

stone stairs at home, land on my back,

catching the stone’s edge, cracking ribs,

shout out in pain, unable to move,

yet another Jew getting to know

Jerusalem stone up close:

forefathers’ flesh once pressed

and pounded into stone; the generations

like dust blown across cold stone;

hearing the martyrs’ groans

in toppled stones, broken bodies

stripped to bone, flung into the pits.

Born in Brooklyn, Steven Sher is the author of fifteen books. He made aliyah five years ago, and now lives in Jerusalem near his children and grandchildren. To learn more about him and his work, visit his website: https://steven-sher-poetry.wixsite.com/writing