Cananical

(on Israel's bombing of the village of Qana in Lebanon,
killing more than 50 people)

In Cana, He turned water into wine,
And wine, as He approached His dreaded time
To give collective mercy to mankind,
Would symbolize the blood of this True Vine.

In Cana too, His second wonder done,
He saved from death a royal official's son,
Having insisted that the children come,
For child-like hearts have Heaven's kingdom won.

But now in Cana, where new life began,
The land of Passover, to slay the Lamb,
Confers collective guilt on boy and man,
Turns blood to water where the children ran.

July 2006