Love Of Jerusalem

There is a street where they sell only red meat And there is a street where they sell only clothes and perfumes. And there is a day when I see only cripples and the blind And those covered with leprosy, and spastics and those with twisted lips. Here they build a house and there they destroy Here they dig into the earth And there they dig into the sky, Here they sit and there they walk Here they hate and there they love. But he who loves Jerusalem By the tourist book or the prayer book is like one who loves a women By a manual of sex positions. Translated by Benjamin and Barbara Harshav