If you besiege a city for many days, to wage war against it in order to capture it, you must not destroy its fruit trees by wielding an ax against them… ~ Deuteronomy 20:19
When at war
if you must go to war
treat the fruit trees
better than the people.
This is our law.
The tree is not fleeing us
so we let it be.
It almost makes sense
except that war
never makes sense.
When you move into a house
with a historic rose garden
don’t cut down the rose garden
You are there to build upon –
not tear down.
Tell this to anyone relevant
even though their
bullet-ridden ears
do not want to hear it.
When we moved into
this house we promised
to leave the roses
as they were. We are a blip
in this space and our mark
will not be made by
tearing out or cutting down.
War will not come from our lips.
No one ever need flee.
Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 29 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net
