Photo provided by Nadera Raied Mushtha

I heard my voice
in the middle of war and death,
wondering if I was a ghost
so that death can’t find me
to take me above?
In our peaceful place
where our city gathers
in peace, in calm…
in the new Gaza above,
in heaven.

So, oh Death!
Can’t you see me, can’t you find me?
I’m here
wandering between the rubble
of my neighbors’ houses.
Can’t you find me?
I’m the gray one
who is calling out to you
between the gray things.

Can’t you hear me?
Take me to children laughing
in their grandparents’ laps,
to where the new homes are made of gold
and can’t be bombed,
to where the rivers of honey and milk flow
that can never be turned to blood…
To where we will be together
in our new Gaza
in heaven
and no one can kill us there.
Oh, Death!
Can’t you see me?