The Single Flame

You cannot see the simple candle light

as you hold the flame up to the autumn sun.

The glow of peace hides in the blaze of right.

This gentle flickering of Yitzhak Rabin

was not snuffed out along his mission's course -

but embraced there by the greater force

of vision passionately shaped within.

Peace ... not that for which Rabin would fight:

He knew that peace lies hidden in each heart -

elicited, not won.

Soft, invisible, prayers coexist:

The single flame that lit a million wicks

extends what hearts inexorably know.

The sirens sound.* The candles simply glow.

* On Nov. 6, sirens sounded throughout Israel at the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.