IT RAINS, IT RAINS ON GAZA - a Poem
By Julia Wright
(...) to sleep
perchance to dream ...
William Shakespeare
Modern psychiatric studies have established that sleep deprivation leading to the inability to dream - can lead to severe mental health challenges. Also sleep deprivation and dehydration are alongside food starvation one of the chief causes of child mortality in times of genocide.
many western intellectuals
have poeticized
rain
we all learned
the lines
by Paul Verlaine:
it rains on the town
as tears fall in my heart
but
when a gentle pitter patter
of rain
just woke me up
from a deep sleep
i was reminded
i was safe
in the deceptively warm belly of the beast
under a roof as yet unbombed
but also
that we pay taxes
for the children
in Palestine
to be flooded
in polluted water
and deprived of sleep
we share the rainy season
but over there -
as winter drizzles
on icy torn tents
as the snowfall of phosphorus
burns
as the downpour of bombs
does not relent
as the infernal noise of drones
beats down
on exhausted minds -
all humans and their animals
are left
day and night, night and day
without the solace of sleep or rest
and
when parents tell their children
to risk forty winks
while they keep vigil,
the little ones are told
to lie down
with their runaway shoes on
it rains
it rains
on Gaza
and water is everywhere
but nobody can drink
one could fill
empty bellies
with water
and satiate hunger for
a little while longer
but
it rains
it rains
on Gaza
and nobody can drink
along the beachfront
the Big Blue is so tempting
in oil and gas so rich
so yielding of fish
so full of playful memories
yet one can die
from drinking
even a bit of its creamy foam
like the ordeal of Tantalus
the inability to drink
waste-filled
rainwater
where lost relatives float
is decreed
a torture supreme -
unspeakable
the zionists
in their hubris
try to weaponize
Mother Earth's gifts
and send the IDF
to target
the back-up solar panels
built by the villagers
to replace the already devastated
electric infrastructure
desalinating their sea water
back here -
breaking news
heart-breaking news
about winter in Gaza
is interrupted
by ads on the best brands
of mineral water
and
failproof big pharma
miracle drugs
(allegedly not animal
or human animal tested)
sold
at elite spa luxury cures
to induce
refreshing and longevity-enhancing
sleep
(c) Julia Wright. December 29th 2024. All Rights Reserved to Susan Abulhawa's playgroundsforpalestine.org
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