❦
I press my ears to the soil for it to tell me
what trespasses abound here, when I know
it has no answer
the country is a beer parlour of blood —
brothel for Molochs with unrestrained
erections
how many names & faces have disappeared
under the un-green and un-white flag?
why do we insist on a sweetness here,
when nothing is in trade but death?
our history, a tale of stepping barefoot
on shrapnel
it has been years of mourning, no dining time
a little façade here, a little façade there
the Dead Sea still takes, still breaks
still claims
still owns us —
a strangled choir in counterpoint singing:
Let bitterness pass
Let bitterness pass
O Lord, O Lord
Let bitterness pass
Carl Terver was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2024. He is the author of Glory to the Sky (Heiress, 2025).