A Rose For Gaza
(written in 2014)
Gaza is a garden full of roses.
Stone roses.
Rock roses.
No petals to crush and bruise
to release their fragrance.
Only dust.
Dust and the stench
of death.
No green space left.
No sweet tranquility,
peace or quiet.
No escape.
No garden of Eden here.
No gateway to paradise.
Rubble and rock roses.
So I shall plant a rose for Gaza
in my green space,
in my tranquil garden.
I won’t bruise it,
just gently sniff its fragrance
and hope that one day
fragrant roses will bloom again
in the garden of Gaza.
What else can I do?
First published by Poets Haven, Vending Machine in Poetry for Change Anthology 2014
Ground Force Gaza Episode Two
This poem is an update.
I wish it wasn’t.
The original was written in 2014.
I didn’t expect to write a sequel,
but here we are again.
One hour to leave
carrying what you can
knowing everything you love
will be destroyed
behind you,
you and 1.5 million others.
You and 1.5 million Others.
Who could do this?
People could not do it.
Soldiers.
Things in uniform obeying orders,
yes sir no sir-ing their way into oblivion.
They could do it.
They would do anything, if told to.
Humanity suspended.
Killing machines.
Destroyers of dreams
with their tanks and bulldozers,
burying them in the rubble with the bits.
With the bits of bodies,
the hands and the feet,
the breasts and the balls.
Things in uniform.
They could do it.
Revenge is never sweet.
But maybe if enough things die
they will stop their slaughter.
Maybe if enough things die
they will become extinct
like the dodo,
the stuff of legend
like the unicorn.
I hope so.
First published in Dissident Voice, October 15, 2023
Some Of Them Are Brave
Everyone knew it was happening
the unheard story
the tens of thousands dead,
the millions displaced,
the decades of rubble,
the destroyed schools.
hospitals, universities
everyone knew.
Everyone knew it was happening
the unheard story
even though the journalists were dead
or expelled and banned
everyone knew.
Everyone knew it was happening
the unheard story
of the hundreds
or thousands,
or tens of thousands
who had disappeared
uncharged with any crime
or misdemeanour
everyone knew.
Then three Israeli workers
blew their whistles loud
and everyone heard
what everyone knew.
Now the trick is to listen.
First published in Dissident Voice, May 19, 2024
https://dissidentvoice.org/2024/05/some-of-them-are-brave/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgygdr7vezo?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0er182glHNfTNDL1JegA7TV5BGEvgQBb5spSnT6Nhqn00uASjEFD1zEUE_aem_ASGP__vVioaJwJRKVTfHHmQFZ4WT17Z87g-yzO94scLByxgwxR-PeiJ3amIKqG6wTLBY1P9MmDRam7hz5t1df26c
