(Written 10 September 2021, before the news of the arrests of the escaped Palestinian prisoners was confirmed.)

that rusty spoon
++++a few days ago
unable to recall
the last mouth it freely fed

yet its mysterious ways
today is chronicled

in the whispers of a million mouths
how the rust was polished and shone
with every living breath
and like the hoarse, resilient muezzin
melodically calls the faithful
to heed liberties cry
“Freedom lies deeply rooted in the soil of the motherland”
If you want it
…you dig it
It is yours!

Now half a dozen canaries
fly from their cage
warning others of the dangers underground

For now, they breathe the fresh air of liberty
as a nation gasps and prays
for them
and the beloved spoon
that caresses the sweaty body of their leader
with an impatient heart

Meanwhile
the deniers of liberty
sit
sulking
and cursing
in front of steel bars,
with their lock and keys
forlorn
with the wooden spoon