we are not numbers

emerging writers from Palestine tell their stories and advocate for their human rights

A new day to die

The ashes on the backyard flower/Makes a puzzle only a Gazan/Could easily figure.
"Visit Gaza" text above bomb clouds on city.
Image: Fuad Alymani

Today is a new day to die!
The yellow beam is making its way
Through the clouds of disastrous horror
of the fading grey.

A mixture of both makes peaceful
Shades of the olive green color,
The ashes on the backyard flower
Makes a puzzle only a Gazan
Could easily figure:

A man on his knee
With no ring or even a lover,
Howling, whining, screaming;
All together.
Yet, his wrinkles are still,
His lips remain one over the other.

Get closer! You will see
Two kids with their mother!
Like roots, their hands are sewed,
Like stems after terrible weather
Their legs are shattered.

Their necks bent over shoulders,
Same expression their faces convey,
Peacefully sleeping like toddlers,
While their utopian dreams stay
Alive only in their veins,
Three petals are gone,
Their chest at rest remains.

So, have you solved it yet?
Or do you need to pick
ِِAnother
Flower?

Man and child sleeping in rough shelter.
Photo: Mohammed Zaanoun
Wendy Goldsmith.

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