thinking of the boy, Mohammed Shaaban, in Gaza and Khulud, the writer, drawing birds in Haifa
Rest assured,
the child whom you have blinded
whose beautiful eyes
the color of olive
you have extinguished
like the trees you have
extirpated
like the homes whose
family humming
you have silenced
shall all come back to haunt you
Rest assured,
you shall sleep the fitful
sleep of babies
under Gaza bombings
You shall drink the black milk
Paul Celan warned against
bringing to the lips
Rest assured,
prophecy shall spring forth
from the tongue of babes
you have maimed
who on special days revel in pools
with their amputated limbs
under the watchful eyes
of sorrowful volunteers
Rest assured,
the Word will not be one
you’d like to hear
It will not sing the praise
of the Chosen
but one by one
enumerate your misdeeds
Rest assured,
it is in the cracks
that the new is nesting
No need for shofars
in these Jericho walls
The future is already taking wing
in a sky and horizon
that are not for you to draw.
Pina Piccolo, 9 June 2021