Eight chanukah candles.
Dripping their last.
White alternating with blue.
Israel’s flag.
Each waxy bead, a tear.
Weeping till snuffed, exhausted.
In shadows of sadness.
Swirling sorrows.
Massacres.
Captures.
Brutalities.
War.
Wrought by power hungry leaders.
On both sides.
Spewing fanaticism, greed, self-interest.
All nurturing illusions.
Instead of babies, children, people.
Chanukah is over.
Dreams for peace are not.
Tolerance and humanity.
What the world forgot.
Lynn Benjamin
December 14, 2023
