Is that all they have on the radio?

Have you ever had one of those

Trips where everything goes wrong

And all you can think to yourself

Is where is Jimmy?

Shawn is what they used to call him

Then he wanted to be called James

As if that would make him

A better guy

His mother was from the south

Took him everywhere

But it was not good enough

Her father was just a Reverand

While these other people 

Were military and radio 

His daddy was a kids show

It made him so made

Every time he saw the girl

Get to do something

He could not

When in fact the parents

Paid for a lot of things

They just could not make

Him into a Prince

He decided he wanted to be 

The President 

Of any country

So he could be the boss

And would not have to take

Spankings from his real dad

My mother had gone to one

Of those places

A mental ward

She came out worse

And she had a new freind

This kid

She was never well

And she never got better

But the family would

Send us on trips

To make her feel better

We had been to eegypt

Where she had a baby 

On the Nile river

just like Moses

Then the disappearead

My sister died

And we were so Christian

That we got sent to Israel

Already been to Rome

Not Catholic 

Here we were in the

Holy Land

Visiting all those sites

That Jesus had walked

And preached 

To the Jews.

Even the Muslim Rock

On top of the Mount of David

My father was going to take 

A few courses so he could

Finish his architecture degree

Where he could build housing

Instead of dams and bridges

I would later follow

The same line with my own 

Studies into archaeology

I wanted to investigate history

History of people

Not primates

I went everywhere as a child

To all sorts of countries

Studied just about all the visible

Works of art and artifacts

I also worked as a writer

I sometimes contributed

To a few religious magazines

Which were sometimes stolen

by someone else 

Or simply stated as theirs

Men have big egos

Think a woman 

Cant get close to god

I had so many different 

Religions and friends

That i accepted god

And listened to others 

But wanted to know more

Due to my grandmother 

I was offered a chance

By a now blind bible scholar

I also had a library degree

To be his legs

And visit certain places

Where there would be 

Manuscripts and other types

Of written items

Could not remove them

Nor photograph them

In the days before the i phone

Got involved with UN humanitarian

Efforts through others 

Finally got my degree 

In forensic archaeology

I prefer my bodies 

Without the flesh

Not frightened of skeletons

Kept working in morgue type

Situations with dead bodies

With the flesh still on them

My Rhodes scholar friend died

At the age of 80 plus

His translation came out

More than a decade later

After others altered 

All his careful instructions

Just like my father 

could not get a project built

Without Jimmy interfering

Or Candy and her crew

Wrecking crew

Very antisemitic

Could not stand us 

being friends with Jewish people

Of course, they are 

Nazi grandchildren

Who have friends 

Who are KKK.

Anyways we got to 
Israel where I had

Already been a few times

With both of my grandparents

And with s few others

Including those from 

San Francisco 

Where we just lost 

A long time friend

Had not invitation

To a private Jewish funeral

Did have several appointment

Which I would have rescheduled

But was not going to stand outside

Looking foolish

After jimmy caused me to have

A nervous breakdown

Over my medical treatments

For my own body

Uterine cancer 

Is in my family

I have had a few cousin die

And all he wants is to invade

The private space

Where he can stare 

No wonders my mother

Had a mental breakdown

Dealing wit her pregnancies

And him a cry baby

About wanting to be allowed

To say she was his mother

So, he could run away

From his own

And do what he wanted

A sad good bye

To her who had also

Suffered the 1973 

War on Isreal

We were all there

Together 

Her family

And my family

We even had a friend

Or two with us

It was a big thing

To get an apartment

In this city

And a few had 

Invited themselves

My grandmtother sat

At the table

With her head in her hands

She had been on the refugee.

Committee that had helped

A number of real Jews. 

To escape or relocate

My mother was in 

a state of shock

She could not understand

How this could happen

while the rest of the adults

Hung out on the balcony

Or laid down in their rooms

This one guy held out with me

In the front room

Listening to the radio

Describe in detail

The seriousness of the war

He had no idea about

Anything except his family

Traveled when and where 

They had money

But an apartment

Anyways scattered 

Were the rest

While we sat vigil

listening for that one voice

Our own cousin

Which is why my grandmother

Was in such agony

She had helped

Peter get jobs

When his own father

Wanted him not to go 

Anywhere after he had 

Found out what radio men

Had to put up with

In the old days

People would take stations

Hostage or even

Abduct a news man

Now they are simply 

Killing them

But in those days

To be held hostage

When your boss

Did not have the money

to pay the utilities

Or the government 

Would have to decide

There it was 

She had sent him out

And Charles would be expecting

Him to return

My friend and I had an eyeful

Of what happens in war

In hostage situations

And in family relationships

None of us were the same

Afterwards

Israel under attack again

And there it is the building

Still standing

Even though on each side

The other two have now collapsed

I can see her standing there

With her hands on her hips

While we wandered

The area looking for any signs...

Of life at all

While Jimmy was running

Around Rome laughing his head off....