The Spoils of Jerusalem
A hundred times taken, the city gleams
with golden domes, whispered riches, the tides
of history. Conquerors have come, dreaming
of the Holy of Holies, the Rapture,
the Grail . . . of a never-ending stream
of loot. My plunder? A coffee-stained map,
some hard-bartered trinkets, two tattered guide
books, three shekels, and just a single snapshot
of God, before the battery died.
© Michael Fleming
Brattleboro, Vermont
December 2015
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