“One of those dreams“

by

Linda Mishkin

Suppose hatred became Hershey’s chocolate syrup
and victims turned into ice cream sundaes,
that children shared at a noon picnic at Central Park
while parents did hand stands.
What if Palestine where a song instead of a place?
And soldiers were singers, 
discussing which key sounds best
or how to harmonize? 
And no one would lynch anyone 
or put children out front to be the first hit 
by stones or bullets. No zealots would desecrate 
holy tombs, nor wailing mothers gather
severed limbs of children.

Suppose we finally made the devil
a friend and he confessed he was scared
of the dark and loved watching Popeye cartoons.
He had no power and resented how we use him
to scare young children.
What if anger always lead to a Tango,
and jealousy tickled all involved until we
laughed it off, and went for a swim in a whipcream river.
Dr. Seuss could be a real doctor (and world president),
we would only talk in rhyme and Humpty Dumpty
would find a wife, instead of falling off the wall?
What if Arabs and Jews filed for joint property rights,
in a marriage that was based on true love,
and life became one of those dreams we
keep wanting to have over and over again.
Suppose….

About Linda:
Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Linda Mishkin has been a lover of poetry and the arts her entire life.
A literature teacher and drama director in international high schools around the world,
she continues to teach and learn with the people she likes most- her adolescent students.
“There are experiences, so beautiful, so ugly, so wonderful and so terrible
that they can hardly be captured and communicated in any art form,“
Linda  says, “but poetry continues to be the way in which I can at least try”.