Was it coincidence or fortuitous that virtually at the same time that this poem ‘So Small Yet So Tall’ was completed, the author, Charlotte Cohen, says she saw it echoed in the Lay of the Land weekly newsletter article ’Till The End of Time that explores and expounds on so similar issues pertaining to our troubled and beloved Israel.
SO SMALL YET SO TALL
By Charlotte Cohen
Home to so many
Of similar and dissimilar
Ideas, ideals and ideologies
And though they are all free
And do not always agree
They have one commonality:
To defend till the end
Their children, their home and their family
To sustain and remain
On this tiny piece of land
So inordinately small
Yet which stands so remarkably tall
Amongst the nations of the world
Not even a quarter the size of New York
This diminutive country began its new journey in 1948
With descendants of its ancient inhabitants
Who, with dedication and determination
Returned to turn this small tract of arid land
Into a restored and renewed Garden of Eden
And with endeavour and endurance
Saw the progression of Israel’s evolution
With so much tormented history and heartache
Forever battened in its backpack
Yet pressing unfalteringly on to a future
So ardently potent and blatantly on track
Whether in technology, science or medicine
Agriculture, desalination or soil conservation
One of the smallest countries in the world
Directed by people of immense skill and innovation
Points the way forward
To a broken world’s salvation
But the inhabitants of Israel
No matter whether conforming and religious
Or independent of thought and practice
Like many countries in the diaspora where Jews reside
Who abide by the law and provide
For themselves and those to whom they are allied
Are all still regarded with one singularity:
And as ‘Jewish or ’Zionist’ are classified
Yet despite their differences and individuality
Each one acts in unity and as an entity
Against hate-filled and fuelled antagonists
Who continue to name, blame and shame them
With the most spurious of propaganda and calumniations
And deceitful and treacherous lies and vilifications
The Palestinians, their avowed and attested enemy
With their continuous animosity and hostility
Launch relentless rocket attacks on the Israeli community
Executing their enmity with malicious brutality
Conversely, Israelis don’t want to fight
They want a home – left to persevere on their own
And not be denounced or have to atone
For nothing adverse that they have done
As a nation proud of its heritage and morality
All Israel wants is to live in peace
In a tolerant, enterprising and democratic society
But against the horrific and incessant terror attacks
And constant threats against its very existence
Forced into facing what it must – and what it does
Israel fights in self-defence with resistance
In actuality, Palestinians are subordinately bullied
Used as fighting vassals and human shields which subjugate
To a terrorist government installed to dominate
Buried in a belief system into which they were conceived
And the brainwashed lies with which they are deceived
If they kill Jews and the infidels they were taught to abhor
Honour and heavenly rewards are what lies before
Yet let it never be forgotten …
Recalling all the adversity Israelis have endured and seen
And the devastating suffering through which they have been
In memory of every soul – every man, woman and child
Persecuted, tortured and slaughtered
By wicked, depraved maniacal murderers
And the most inhuman of anti-Semitic executioners
In the living spirit of every heartbeat and breath
Lost to millions of Jews as well as many others
History can never be laid to rest …
And in their name – and ours
We say: NEVER AGAIN!
With the horrendous history of broken lives and broken hearts behind them
And a nation of strong-willed lives and brave hearts which now guides them
Never forgetting the sacrifice of the many heroes who forfeited theirs
So that Israelis living in this exemplary land can continue to share
In the spirit of every living person who has Israel at heart
Who has supported and promoted and expedited it
It will grow and prosper and be recreated
To those who deny it; to those who decry it
Who persist with their insistence of perpetual lies
And odious defamatory denunciations against Israel
Be assured:
ISRAEL WILL NEVER FORGET AND NEVER GIVE UP!
Israel will forever guard its survival without trepidation
Against terrorist maleficence and abomination
Using its integrity, its ingenuity and its ability
For the betterment of all humanity
Standing in the forefront of invention and aspiration
Israel is a country of preservation and restoration
It stands as a beacon of light for civilisation
And will forever be an inspiration
©Charlotte Cohen
About the Poet:
Charlotte Cohen is an award-winning short story writer, essayist and poet, whose work has appeared in a wide variety of South African publications since the early 1970’s.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
