life is so good
why am I dying for this?
on the hilltop
of the West Bank settlement
he mutters with a cocked rifle
Note: Ls 1&2 allude to the existential "question -- 'Existence is so good—why am I dying for this?'-- that reflects a sentiment often explored in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, particularly in the context of war and the characters' struggles with mortality and the meaning of life. It encapsulates the tension between the inherent value of life and the seemingly pointless sacrifice demanded by war. "
Haaretz, May 28, 2025: Israeli Cabinet Approves Construction of 22 New Settlements, Some Deep in West Bank
After striking Tehran, the army closed hundreds of gates to seal Palestinians inside towns and strand them on roads — proof of annexation in all but name.
The following tanka about Israel's genocidal war in Gaza could work as real life foreshadowing of what will happen to the doubting solider on the hilltop of the West Bank settlement:
Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, LX: "suicide deaths"
the lingering smell
of blood-stained body parts
scattered everywhere
another soldier dies
by his own hand, and yet ...
Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXI: "two deaths, Palestinian and Israeli"
One War Story and Two Deaths
a head
severed from the body
grits its teeth ...
moonlight luster on the faces
of young Israeli soldiers
back from Gaza
Ezra couldn't stop the war
in his head ...
our father holds his shroud tight
as he is being buried
Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CXCIX: 'white coffin"
the white coffin
a gray-haired man balances
on one hand ...
a child born after the war started
and buried before it ends
