On Bondi Beach

a poem

Yes, I can grieve for those who died last Sunday, but it is a question of recognition, of keeping things in proportion. Here is my admittedly simplified formula: I take the 15 victims at Bondi Beach and divide them by the 71,000 deaths in Gaza as of this writing. I get a fraction of 0.00021225714, and this is the extent of my grief for the 15.

Patrick Lawrence, “After the first 70,669 deaths, there is no other.

On Bondi Beach,
flowers mount and amass, 
an island on the sand,
in memory of 15 Jews 
gunned down by a father and son.
Around the world,
not a petal, not a bud, not a leaf
is laid for the 71,000 Palestinians
murdered, massacred, bombed, 
dismembered, sniped, droned, 
crushed, burnt, starved to death
in Israel’s genocide.

On Bondi Beach,
thousands gather to light candles
for 15 dead and 13 injured Jews.
Around the world,
not a match is struck,
not a spark ignites,
not a tea light flickers
for the 71,000 dead and 171,192 Palestinians
wounded, maimed, traumatized,
amputated, and disabled for life.

On Bondi Beach,
grief and sympathy flow, 
apologies and outrage abound
over the violent deaths 
of a 10-year old girl,
4 women,
5 seniors,
2 rabbis,
1 married couple.
Around the world
not one tear is shed,
not a cry or moan is heard,
no flag lowered to half-mast,
no national day of mourning declared
to mark the extermination 
of over 20,179* children,
10,427 women,
4,813 elderly,
300 religious scholars, teachers,
preachers and imams,
902 entire families.

After Bondi Beach
guns laws must be tightened,
the right to free speech restricted,
pro-Palestinian protests banned, 
activists arrested and imprisoned
to combat antisemitism  
and crush criticism of Israel.
Around the world
no arms shipments are stopped,
no boycotts announced,
no sanctions imposed,
no laws enforced
against Israel 
and its enablers.

Bondi Beach is how the world equates
4,733.333 nameless, faceless Palestinians
and their unknown stories
with every Jewish victim
whose life, light and legacy
are remembered with love.

* The quoted numbers are from the Gaza Ministry of Health's report, dated October 7, 2025. These most likely undercounted figures serve more to illustrate the scale of the killing suffered on both sides.

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