13 Nov 1985, Posted by Scott An Chora in Travelogue, No Comments.

11/13 Jerusalem, Israel

Alongside the darkness we walked the city streets.  It was a different feel since the majority of the shops were boarded up for the night.  It gave the streets a maze like feel.  We came upon a community of water pipes where I sat across from an elderly blind man and a few of his companions.  We shared a pot of spearmint tea and a conversation.  I had a picture taken but it was very dark and without a flash I wasn’t sure if it would come out.  When Jenni and I would kiss or hold hands through the streets, an older woman would always spring out from her daily routine to let us know that we were engaging in inappropriate behavior and that we should cease immediately.  We were also told that it was a Jewish tradition to place prayers into the cracks between the stones of the western retaining wall of Solomon’s temple.  That it was like express mail to God.  We thought it odd that they segregated those prayers between men and women and only allow women access to a certain area of the wall.  We decided that we would relax that night to a self homemade meal.  We would also each prepare a prayer for our visit to the western wall tomorrow.  It took me longer to put the poem on an inch square piece of paper than it did to compose it.  I would place Jenni’s prayer on the men’s side and she would place mine on the woman’s.  Our little protest.

Jenni’s poem:
Dear lord, we write this thank you, for bringing us this far, for helping us to grow, to you, our guiding star
We ask for your forgiveness, for we admit we’ve sinned, to help our love grow stronger, to shelter us from the wind
to guide us in our travels and help us understand, about the people, food and the wine and the beauty in your land.

Scott’s poem:
Trails through this world are countless, many have yet to be tried
shadows dance and leap out into the night, leading me on, to where the roads divide
Though my pockets have worn empty and I carry no intent
you can still find me lodged in-between, as if these things were meant, to be, while the wood is green
Like a child embarks among the young, I am wandering through the darkness
in a vain search for water, to cool my tongue but I have only found distress
I try to carry my repentance, in the fruits, my branches bear
but this is not always aligned with my desires but rather where there’s fear
…  of being cut down at the root and cast into the fire
So each time I lay myself down to sleep, it’s for this world I pray and plead
for your forgiveness, for those times we’ve gone astray
We are all lost without your guidance, like the many seeds, cast upon the rock
may your mighty winds take us, to fertile ground, no longer set apart
Keep us humble, gentle and patient, charitable, forbearing and free
let us spare no effort, to make the first testament, the binds of peace and unity
Keep guard over our hearts and over our thoughts, keep us awake and sober
No drunkenness or indecency, no debauchery or vice, no quarrel or jealousies
… let Christ, himself be our armor.