And an insensate light struck down upon the
Sands of Gaza, primordial stars interregnum –
And the angels of heaven kissed the earth
With outstretched wings. There was Sayeret
Matkal, who arrived on a milk-white steed, to
Inflict chastisement on those who rebelled
Against the Lord, suns cascading, of a lake
That turned another; redoubtable Shaldag
Followed, his sword unsheathed and glistening,
With one hand he held the head of a librarian,
And with the other a pilfered negligee; there
Was Metzada, who descended from the high-
Est seat empyreal, wearing an olive ring that
Signaled his devotion to the Word, from his
Steed he dragged a dead doctor, and from
His helm a headless doll; next swept Golani –
Was princely soldier braver or more cunning?
Who knelt before the blinding bush before
Discharging his weapon into a weeping girl
Whose parents moaned and cried; beside
Him stood Givati, grim beyond the fading
Of the firmament, who held aloft the staff
Of Moses, which he used to beat a terrified
Babe until it breathed its last; there was Shayetet
13, resolute and full of dread, who arrived in
The heat of battle sitting atop a vulture with
Green eyes, unchecked orbs of inexorable
Blinding hate, zones of a groaning thunder –
To cleave black doom on all the world.
And about those smoldering plains lay still
Bodies soft and callow, the echoes of their
Anguish evanescing on the main, a sea of
Bones and desolation, blackened ransacked
Homes chilling in their ruin; and a proud ancient
People fled the coming of the maelstrom,
Unwept they knew not why – cryptic moons of
A cruel rain fallow. Whereon the blood flowed,
And the money rained, and the savior smiled at
The slaughter of sweet lambs – triumphant was the
Paladin – who enveloped the earth in crimson dew