I was and was not

Surprised

To see and hear of the torment of Rafah. 

I have watched the screens light up

White and orange as phosphorus and fire.

I have seen the 75 years and 128 days of pulverized buildings,

Broken bodies, parts of bodies, dead children,

Broken healers, silenced storytellers, massacred mothers.

Hind, Ahmed, Yussuf, Heba.

I have seen the arms dealers, the smiles of those

Who feast on human flesh and try to wrench our souls

From us. 

I was and was not

Speechless.

Is there any way to stop the echo

Of screams 

Or any poem ugly enough for genocide?

I wake up each morning and look for their 

Virtual existence (which is still resistance).

Bisan, Moataz, Mosab, Tayseer, Lama,. 

Younger and younger. Death has looked

Into their eyes. We have seen it.

Gaza, our eyes are filled with your pain.

Our feet unsteady on the rubble 

Of what makes us human.

Kaushalya Bannerji, February 12, 2024