By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2024
First published in Spirit Fire Review (Fall Issue, November 2024)
Dedicated to the victims of October 7th
He was a firefighter
who had saved many
throughout his career;
but on this dreaded day,
he could only listen
to his daughter’s voice
describing how
terrorists were breaking
into their house
and setting it on fire;
how she and her husband
were in their safe room,
standing side by side
as human barricades
against the door
to keep it closed;
how the terrorists
were now trying
to break it down
by brute force,
then with bullets.
The last sound he heard
from the person he loved most
was her startled cry,
before he heard
her body hit the floor.
When the IDF
was finally able
to take him to their house,
he saw his daughter
and her husband
lying side by side,
their bodies bullet-ridden.
One year later,
on the anniversary
of October 7th,
he says he dreams of peace —
of a future when
their land will once again
flow with milk and honey
and flowers of joy
will once again bloom
in oases amidst desert.
For now, he can see
his precious daughter
and her husband
smiling side by side —
whenever he beholds
two flowers of great beauty,
blowing in the wind…