we are not numbers

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

The land of weary crows

Take me to the sky on your kite / And let me fly far away from this life.
Young woman in hijab.

Take me to the sky on your kite
And let me fly far away from this life
Show me how death is just a matter of time.

Sunset over Gaza sea. Sun is a small red ball.
The sky over the shoreline of the Gaza Strip on a recent day. Photo: Dima Shamaly

Take me to the sky
Where pain is a joke
And healing is a joy
Where eyes are luminous with threads of sunlight.
Don’t leave me here drowning in this lake of tears
Jumbled with blood from your veins
Don’t leave me here

If there is no way to fly on the kite
Then teach me how to sail swiftly
Before being shredded by monsters’ mines
If your paddles are broken
I’ll use my arms
But they’ll be devoured
Before I even try
Can you teach me how to float?
So the monsters gobble my soul
Then the shackles of sorrow will flee from my home

I’ll close my eyes slowly
My dim aches will immigrate with the flock of miserable crows
My blood will be kneaded with beloveds’ mourning and wails
And amputated limbs.
There I’ll be rooted
On a vast cloud of mercy
Earth beneath me
Kites surround me.

The white doves will land on the earth
Bleeding my pains
They will pluck their feathers
Spread them on the window frames
Plant them between lovers’ fingers
So they write their love
Before remorse
When their darlings arise to the sky
And leave them on this land,
The land of weary crows.

Smiling woman with curly hair.
Mentor: Leah Harris

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