Oct. 9, 2023

The ones, who dug a tunnel with spoons to escape, are cut from the same cloth as those that took the decision to launch a land, sea, and air attack. These are individuals moved by faith to set a greater purpose, as seen in these defining days, and they are not deterred by injustice, collective or individual punishment.

Those hearts were molded from a clay of wonders. In astonishing ways, they set out to light the path of freedom for this generation. They planned a method of attack, which was only achieved through years of preparation, patience, and bearing the cost of such a choice on life in Gaza! That life, where you live under a sky occupied by surveillance cameras that never go away!

What are these miracles that we are destined to live through, while witnessing with all our senses that which we can barely believe!

Our hearts are breaking for the victims, but in spite of everything, the sacrifice this time is gratifying. As we no longer only receive terror, but rather now have men that are equipped to orchestrate, and rightfully deliver terror to those who have oppressed, occupied, and stole our homeland, and violated the lives of its people.

Oh God, the people of Palestine are consumed with despair, losses, and killings that have burned their eyes with tears. Oh God, the men were not weak in seeking justice and restoring their rights; but rather walked with their shrouds to it, so is there salvation, and is there any hope?!

Oct. 30, 2023

What does it mean to be a poet in times of war?

It means apologizing  …

extensively apologizing 

to the burnt trees

to the nestless birds

to the crushed homes

to the long cracks along the streets

to the pale faced children before and after death

to the faces of every sad or murdered mother

What does it mean to be safe in times of war?

It means being ashamed …

of your smile

of having warmth 

of your clean clothes

of your idle hours 

of your yawning 

of your cup of coffee

of your restful sleep

of having alive loved ones

of having a full stomach

of having available water

of having clean water

of being able to shower

And for incidentally being alive!

Oh God,

I don't want to be poet in times of war 

Nov. 2, 2023

I will blow on the wounds of Gaza

and sing her to sleep!

I will cover her ears so she can't hear the sounds of planes nor missiles 

I will place her children in the chamber of my heart and lock them in, 

I will  connect them to my umbilical cord!

I will make Gaza sleep 

I promise her that 

I promise you!

I haven't gone mad yet,

I am dreaming

Nov. 9, 2023

No sugar in the city!

I want to bake a cake, but there's no sugar in the city

no smiles pouring from passing faces

no balconies overlooking dreams,

and the windows have not returned to their places since the last wars!

I want to bake a loaf of bread, 

but there's no wheat in the fields,

There is only a dilapidated scarecrow

Scaring the peasants, but not the crow!

I want to bake a moon,

but there's no oven that can fit its towering roundness

So I decided to devour my raw heart 

for there's no fire in the city!

Dec. 3, 2023

Hello world

I am there

I mean here

yes exactly, here in Gaza!

under this grey pile

I was screaming moments ago

but the last missile 

made me fly to you 

to tell you what you are incapable of comprehending!

Oh world, it is an evening of hunger

not necessarily in my stomach 

and not a hunger for the bread that you eliminate for a diet!

Not a hunger for the miserable aid you sent in containers for my children,

I stood at the crossroad of rifles, and it did not arrive!

It's not just queues of hungry people

Nor the protruding bones of the hungry

I'm hungry for myself!

I mean, I was hungry for me as a human,

Before your next missile eats me!

….

Oh world, it is an evening of madness

What do you think as you watch silently, pretending to understand?

Nodding your head

Hammering your gavel 

to decide a humanitarian pause for me

Oh thank you

I will smile with gratitude 

I will laugh exposing all my teeth 

I will giggle while filling your ears with sobs

Tell me: 

Do you even see?

…

An evening of darkness

what do you know of the cold that has frozen my limbs 

while I break up the ruins of wardrobes 

to feed the fire!

I burnt school books, summer clothes, 

and sculls 

and the terrible sound of explosions 

I no longer care

just like you!

…

Oh life, it is an evening of death

I believe your disbelief

I am enriched by your bankruptcy

And I have risen with your fall

I am the one in the pit

with no brothers

Your wolves ate me and tore the shirts

I am the one oppressed by disappointments and your ugliness, O world

Thank you for the last missile

It relieved the street of a long wailing

Dec. 20, 2023

Clothes washed by the sea

that sea that still holds its blue color in an amazing collusion with life!

Clothes dried by a tired sun

A sun trembling in fear from the explosions

From the cries of hearts that have almost been extinguished!

A sun that has become pale with the disappearance of the color green!

In Gaza now, the color grey is celebrated as the hero

In the endless pictures captured of falling houses on top of bodies,

Roof after roof like burning meteors,

Digging terror into the ground meters deep Altering the meaning of the ground and surface,

The upper floor becomes absolutely terrifying,

The building collapses in all its glory, with empty water tanks and useless satellite dishes!

You wonder where the people went?

Then you are surprised by a spot of blood, a foot or leg, or perhaps by five fingers that managed to survive!

Now you know the answers to the questions,

But you keep on asking!