Dear Layla
Yesterday we were with the Mansour clan all day
The greenhouse next to theirs was destroyed by the Israelis last week
They called us to come and stand with our banners and orange jackets
In clear view of Israel’s sniper tower
To hopefully deter the soldiers from taking shots at them
The men busied themselves with hauling away the skeletal frame of their greenhouse
After an hour of standing there
Johnny and I looked at each other
And understood without a word
We joined in carrying away and stacking the poles
Job finished by late afternoon
We were taken inside where it was cool
Given water to drink
As we sat on the floor to relax
While the girls and women prepared the evening feast
The patriarch of the clan came up to me and said
“You are so good to come all this way to be with us
You leave your work
You even leave your family”
He looked astonished
He asked me how many children I had
I told him zero
He was incredulous
He said I should go back home
And get busy populating the earth with my children
Breaking into a broad grin
He pointed to the adjacent room
Where his wife was putting the finishing touches on dinner
“One wife …sixteen children”
He believed that I too could fulfill such a procreative destiny
He was 43
His wife a few years younger
Doc
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