Qanun like a zither plucking
running goats from a carousing stream,
Saz strings singing each water drop,
Oud shaking the rainbow from the mist,
Kamanjah—that other name for a violin—
surfing along the ultraviolet waves,
while a Russian Balalaika taps
its toes frenetically and
the Darbuka keeps them in time
and sometimes Bongos serve
for Tablas—all a whirling meditation
chorusing the heavens in hopes
that one day their peace will come
as Arab and Jew play a concert together
on a mystical mountain in the Upper Galilee.

– Michael Dickel

© 2015, poem, Michael Dickel, excerpt from War Sourrounds Us, All rights reserved