Michael Dekel Performs at the Interfaith Eco Poetry Slam

This evocative spoken-word performance weaves together imagery from the natural world, biblical history, and the harsh beauty of the desert landscape. Through vivid descriptions of wildlife, rugged terrain, and scarce water sources, the poem explores themes of refuge, resilience, and humanity’s enduring connection to nature.

Drawing inspiration from the wilderness of Ein Gedi, the speaker reflects on how animals and people alike seek shelter from the relentless desert heat. References to Tristram’s grackles, ravens, acacia trees, waterfalls, and hidden pools create a rich portrait of life sustained in one of the region’s most challenging environments.

The poem also recalls the biblical story of King David finding refuge in the strongholds of the desert while fleeing from Saul. By connecting ancient narratives with contemporary observations of the natural world, the performance highlights the timeless human search for safety, renewal, and hope amid adversity.

Through its powerful imagery and contemplative tone, this piece invites viewers to appreciate the fragile ecosystems of desert environments and reflect on the ways nature provides moments of shelter, beauty, and restoration even in the harshest conditions.

For more from this event, please see Sine Grubert’s performance!

From his original poem “Somewhere, a whirring fan”:

And I never existed because I
don’t stop dreaming. Poetry, like
a god, provides code for an image,
keying it to suggest a revelation-lode
from your past. You want it to be
my past. The parrots’ screech.
A crow calls. A beautiful Other
by the window waits. This all
happens to you while I write,

these scenes tangled in dreams,
whirring fans—the poem unable
to light any form, your reading,
this page; unable to discover more
than bare wisps of meaning in the
vibrations of words—your song longing
for someone in the infinite void. Wanting
a mortal to read you into this, to see you
alive, you seek a new beginning—genesis.