If you must write what you know

 

must you write what your eyes saw

on the screen held in your hand? 

 

The boy, 4 or 5, smiling,

then in his place

the crater of our bomb,

small for a canyon 

but not big enough 

for a mother’s …

… or was it the father’s

or maybe there are no parents

the whole family cratered together

by–remember–the bomb we sent

 … so then an aunt or an uncle, 

no, they are months under the rubble

made by bombs so imprecise 

the officer setting targets, 

becoming the only one 

to open his eyes

refused to return to his post

 … there must then be someone, 

an older cousin, to search 

no, again, he was shot

in the head, only here 

is the promised precision

 … a grandmother then, surely, 

a grandmother to place 

her hands on her child’s 

… grief.

 

I was supposed to write what I know

and I only saw the boy. Don’t know the mother.

But I once longed for the body of a beloved 

to give my own last rites, a kiss on the cold

of a forehead becoming stone and my lips 

taking a dusting of salt.

 

I found him. They gave him to me. 

If they hadn’t I’d be searching still.

And, you, haven’t you, too,

known the longing  

for some 

body?

*****

This poem came to be after the bombing of the civilian safe area in Gaza using US made 2,000 lbs bombs (stories by Al Jazeera and the NY Times). If you are a US citizen who wants to raise your voice against this, the most direct and quickest action to take is to call your legislators. Given their lack of response so far this can feel frustrating, but perhaps it is just that they need to hear more voices. If you haven’t made this call yet (for whatever reason) your voice could be the tipping point. The action suggestion from my local chapter of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) for the week of September 16 (I’ll update this if it changes):

For your Representative, demand:

• Support for Carson and McGovern’s house legislation to restore UNRWA funding, as people in Gaza are experiencing forced starvation and disease.
• Support for a Joint Resolution of Disapproval (JRD) in the House on the most recent $20 billion weapons package for Israel.

From your Senators, demand:

• Support Senator Sanders’ Joint Resolution of Disapproval (JRD) on the most recent $20 billion weapons package for Israel.
• Call for an offensive weapons arms embargo on Israel – THE TIME IS NOW.

Find Rep numbers here and Senate numbers here.

I am motivated to make these calls believing that the embargo on offensive weapons is the pressure needed for bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza to, in the short term, ease the horrors Gazans face, calm tensions in the whole region, and release the hostages. It is a first, most basic step toward a more enduring solution to bring stability, justice, and peace in the region to be determined by the people who live there, not the United States. The words of Palestinian poets have inspired to not turn away from the genocidal impact of Israel’s war waged with US weapons and support on Gaza. I wrote this poem after attending a talk by  Jess Semaan, a Lebanese poet, therapist, group facilitator, and speaker. A note I wrote while listening to her remarks: “the violence disguised as silence.“