Our Poet today is Laura L Mays Hoopes

Cardamom in Jericho

written by Laura L Mays Hoopes

Cardamom scent from the coffee
In Jericho on a small round stool
Happy to be in this large gift shop
And not stranded on the road
Or taken to a nameless place
For nefarious purposes.

My husband will come here later
As he walks slowly down the desert road
Alone, hearing voices of the past
And the ravens of today
Avoiding large boulders and
Small slippery stones underfoot.

I was supposed to come down
On the bus with Mohammed.
The telephone call upset him
He said, “Get out and stand by the road
To watch for a red car with two men,”
The bus disappeared.

I thought of Americans in duct tape
Poised under cars, driven through the night
Hidden in small villages for years
And I was sore afraid.
But a red car rocketed along
Opened its doors and I got in.

Still the worries beset me.
Three men, not two.
Not talking or laughing, just driving
Very fast, around curves
Down the hills and through the city
But now parking at a big store.

Surely the worry could stop now.
When I went inside, Kikin handed me
The cup of cardamom coffee
In a delicate glass cup
Held in twisted brass wires.
“Please, lady, sit here.”

The ordeal was all inside my head.
Nothing bad happened.
But the adrenaline was high
And I laughed and laughed
And spent a great deal of money
In my relief.