Gaza, Palestine - Another Unwritten Lament
"Here a god wretched with wrath walks.
Here without mercy or redemption a savage
religion with a voice of thunder.
Here desolation descends among the people
like a prophet from the old bible:
(My son, I buried him here
with my own hands...
I found your grave, Saleh.
I found your grave, my beloved son.)"
(Middle East Eye - July 12, 2024)
The Lament
“I found your grave, my beloved son.”
A Palestinian mother bids farewell to her son
“My son is here
O Saleh, Oh Saleh
– there is no god but God
May God be pleased with you,
Saleh.
My son, I buried him here
with my own hands…
I found your grave, Saleh.
I found your grave, my beloved son.
My soul, my son, the joy of
my heart.
My beloved son.
My soul.
My Heart.
My beloved.
I swear my son, I cannot
sleep at night
when you come to my mind.
I swear my son, I cannot sleep at night.
The joy of my heart, Salah.
The joy of my heart.
My dear, my precious, my light.
My handsome Salah, the light of my life.
God willing. my son, you are
in the highest ranks of paradise.
My dear, I am patient.
I entrusted you to God my dear.
And I did what you wanted, my soul.
But I am saddened.”
(Anonymous)
-----
"In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2 375 259, this would translate to 7·9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip. A report from Feb 7, 2024, at the time when the direct death toll was 28 000, estimated that without a ceasefire there would be between 58 260 deaths (without an epidemic or escalation) and 85 750 deaths (if both occurred) by Aug 6, 2024."
Global Right - Full Poem (& Links)
No comments:
Post a Comment