The Sounds of War (Part I)

Jerusalem rumbles, Tel Aviv explodes.  Babies whine, dogs snore. Morning birds fly and chirp to the west; some collect on bougainvillea”s twigs then hide their cries at ground zero.  Silence, there’s none.

Jerusalem. The shock of the first warning slices,  silently cuts through dreams, shakes our inners. Booms are early. Crashes, later.

Tinnitus screams in both the ears, haunting, waiting.

Planes fly high , gurgling their bass-baritone cries,  announcing their presence, one then the other, setting their pace for the streams of attacks.  We wait for warning’s rush.

Soon sirens blare, one by one, different notes and timbres, same intent.  We rush to safety, some in soft slippers, others with clogs. The door is then sealed; we barely breathe in the thin cold air.  Mumbles break the jugulars’ silence.

Outside,  trees flow softly to different paces,  pendulums that heal, until the blasts.

At home, silence sometimes rules.  We stand with faces pressed to windows covered with smog.  Soon pelts of rain accompany next boom’s round. We run. The sounds of deep breathing then stops.

Daylight. Building projects scream in a language of dreams. Cranes scratch, drills moan, the symphony of pulses clank mixed in with the chirps of birds, frantically flopping their wings.  Trucks bark in the distance. Progress stops when sirens  crunch and blare.

In Tel Aviv city sounds rule. Metal crunches. Moans of trains persist.   Waves of wind churn through non-stop nights, flames crackling ’til daybreak.  Cries everywhere.  Silence disappears.

Back in Jerusalem. Warning horns slice, rip and pulse. Churning sirens, resound in all directions creating a giant wrap-around sound, mixed with steps and voices, creaks of shelter’s metal doors shut tight. Then silence. Small talk. Even laughs. But most of all silence pregnant with flicks, switches and leather soles beating time on concrete’s plateau. One-toned rings announce release.  We wait for the next round but it doesn’t arrive. It’s hard as hell to think.  Heart beat faster, deep breathing sets in, we leave to sounds of thin traffic.

Later, fast plane sounds rule loud then quickly fade, responding to attacks. Highs to lows disappear. Only the screams of a few ambulances remain.  We wait for another day!