Remy Ilona’s Poem in Honor of Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the fair city surrounded by hills, by hills surrounded

As the Lord of hosts surrounds His people, His people enclose

Nestled up in the Judaean hills, oh Land of Judah

Scorched by the sun, and swept by the winds of the Judaean desert

Uncomely compared to Rome, to Taj Mahal

Yet you are the desire of every man and every creed

Over you they fight: Saladin, Barbarossa and papa

Dancing over the same cobblestones that sicarii, the men of zeal and the legionnaires danced

In years of yore, while the native sons wept with heads broken

Jerusalem will you hear the Shema again, will you?

Yes, I will, I will

And Shema you heard, when your sons and daughters returned

But you also heard the hatikva, as the beard of Theodore Herzl touched the head of Ben Gurion

Jerusalem, may you not suffer bereavement again!

About the Author

Remy Ilona, is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Riverside, where he also functions as a teaching assistant. He is also the secretary-general of Hebrew-Igbo people, an Igbo socio-cultural organization. He is also an author of 10 books. He is of Ibo or Igbo extraction, and a lawyer by training, as well as a historian of the Ibo. He is among the leaders shepherding the Ibos re-emerging Judaism.