Harvesting Strawberries

In summer

my teenage daughters

hair waving freckles,

legs and arms swinging,

walk barefoot to the garden in our back yard,

pick greens,

wash them, make salad

or cook with olive oil and garlic

and we eat together

on the wooden table under the mimosa tree

beside hammocks and chimes,

then drive or walk three miles to plunge in the Atlantic.

On January 4, 2005

six Palestinian children ages eleven to seventeen

harvesting strawberries

were killed by Israeli military

paid, in part, with dollars we send in taxes

from our jobs.

A newspaper photo showed an almond eyed boy

carrying the body of his younger brother.

The children were harvesting strawberries.


Kathy Engel January 6, 2005