Karla Kuskin

Questions in verse about the many things you could be if you were square or soft or loud or red or small or fat or fierce or dark.

Evokes the spirit of an ancient city, recalling David, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Hadrian, Constantine, Saladin, Suleiman, and the many groups who came to conquer; and observes that despite 3000 years of being battered, burned, and rebuilt, Jerusalem shines peacefully in the moonlight.