They’re local kids—Jews, Muslims
who’ve played together for years
in the mountain plazas of the Galilee;
tonight they’ve got special guests—
a Bedouin boy soprano, and a rapper rabbi.
The moon’s full, but we have to wait
for three stars in the sky
signaling the end of Shabbat
so the religious Jews can arrive.
Meanwhile, an Arab family stands at the grill
buying falafel for their hungry boys,
while teens arrange embroidered pillows
for perfect snogging under the stars.
They’ll sing in five languages, play the saz,
bansuri flute, exotic drums, camanché,
dark strings pulsing in the stagnant air. The boy’s songs
will incite a riot of dancing; the rabbi will ask
permission to sing a Jewish prayer that heralds
the coming of Elijah, precursor to the Messiah. Peace
for k’ol ha’olam. The starry world.