This piece requires a bit of explanation. When my sister got married in Israel, other than the rehearsal dinner and ceremony, where I stayed on my sisters Kabutz, Sdot Yam, sharing a room with my grandmother, I was at The Dead Sea, because of a skin condition. But first let me say that when the plane landed in Israel the most striking thing was all of the soldiers that were in the airports and on the roads. Gorgeous young men and women, but soldiers none the less. Also it should be noted that The Red Sea is the lowest point on earth, which is why it is so rich in minerals. Even the air is rich in minerals and felt like velvet on the skin. In the solarium women were on one side, the men on the other, with an open cafe in the center. We sunned naked by the rich water sometimes going into it to help heal the skin. The water would sting any open place because it was full of sea salt and other minerals. It was so rich in minerals that you floated on top. You could not sink. Many Germans and English and Greek people came. Few Americans because insurance would not pay. (Mind you this was in the days before Enbrel was discovered to clear the condition entirely for some - like myself.) Most of the women, besides myself and a pretty girl and a model, were huge like the women in the Beatles movie with the walruses and whales. So, while my family traveled around Israel having incredible experiences together, my father gifted me this stay believing it would clear my skin and bring me some peace. His heart was in the right place, but I wish I had traveled with them over those weeks because on the plane it all came back again, leaving me at one of my most dejected points. But, thats not my style, and this poem talks about the experience on The Dead Sea which was really quite remarkable. In the mornings I ran several miles in the dessert and the air was like velvet to the skin, because of the minerals. I drank and partied with handsome Germans at night in the dance club and ran with underground connections among the armed guards inside the markets where one could find desserts green. One night in the club the beautiful model was dancing with a young man 1/2 her height. And we, the model and I had exchanged glances as if to acknowledge that the dance was taking away a deep long held sting. I took a few day trips that included Masada an excluded peak (where it is said Jews, who had developed a sophisticated plumbing system that could compete with those of today, were cornered by the enemy and instead of surrender they all leaped to their deaths). There I met a handsome man that was another version on the same theme of a previous boyfriend, Ben, Benoit, whose father had been Mayor of his Swiss city and where I stayed one Christmas with all the matriarchs remaining. Well talk of Benoit more another time. He was hit by a car when he was jogging on the Champs-Élysées and was killed. But that is the reference to Ben. While riding to Masada in a bus, I saw black Jews - nomadic women, living in tents in the dessert from some other space and place and time, and there is a reference to them too here. I did go to the old city of Jerusalem with my family where the streets were paved with large stones. We visited the wailing wall where I left a message in one of the cracks with 3 wishes. And (first Raptiva) and then Enbrel answered one them. I had a brief interlude with one of the men there, an Olympic shot put who moved me like I was a feather in his hands. It was the first and only time I ever slept with a man who shared my then skin affliction and it was ... well, Ill let the piece speak for itself. You may recognize some of the piece from Playgirls and Playboys because that piece (Playboys and Playgirls) is a conglomeration of several pieces, including this one. When I was done with this poem, it made me cry. I was sort of surprised by it I think. Anyway, The Red Sea....
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 04:56:37 +0000
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