-was the name of the movie marathon
playing on yes.vod that summer
The trailer played constant
nostalgic music droning over images of
young, dark haired actresses.
The heat was numbing the
kind that eats you from the inside out
but on the screen
they were cool glass unbothered
and the little tzeva adom would come pinging up
at the bottom of the screen
resting at the waists of the actors floating calm the dead sea-
Alarm in Ashkelon
And then
Alarm in Be’er Sheva.
And when the wailing sirens
finally climbed into our window
we peeled ourselves off
the lightly salted couch moved into the hallway
seeking structural solidity
our bare feet red toenails
thrown up against the wall
legs cooled on linoleum.
In the beginning it thrilled us
this savage delightful violence
Now we do not meet each other’s eyes.
-you are so beautiful when you’re scared-
and we both know you
not afraid of the rocket softly falling miles above
but afraid of my guilt
We knew it would end
knew we would walk back to the couch and
return to our Israeli summer.
You taught me if we did not change the station
we were safe
-
Janine is a writer, student and aspiring optimist with absolutely no idea how to write a biographical statement. She currently lives in Istanbul.
