Indian Summer

here
it's unseasonably hot
like the Indian summers
of my youth

desert dry
when should be
raining
or even snow
a few flakes

Indians
named after
mistaken identity

Europeans
thought
they knew it all

American Indians
no relation
to Indians
east of Europe

many travel
from Israel
and other places
to India
and more exotic
Asia

trying to escape
and then were
swept up
injured
killed
as the earth opened
and the waters rose
like cats' fur
before it strikes
claws its victims

over a hundred thousand
perished
when looking for peace
peace can be dangerous

dry Indian summers in Israel
leave us parched

we must ask G-d for forgiveness