I can see the Stars through
A Bullet Hole in the Ceiling²
I speak Arabic & English – but I don’t
Know in which one my Fate is Written³
What is Home? The shade of Trees on my
Way to School before they were Uprooted⁴
Borders are Invented Lines: drawn with Ash
On Maps and sewn into the ground by Bullets⁵
Before my long Travel, I pack my bags – stuff
Them with Sand from our Land, Scents from my
Mother’s Kitchen and sounds of Birds in morning⁶
In Gaza, Rising in the morning, trying to survive
Another day – is Coming Back from the Dead⁷
The Drone’s Buzzing, the Roar of an F-16,
The Screams of Bombs falling on Houses,
On Fields, on Bodies, of Rockets flying
Away: Rid my Ear canal of them all⁸
We ask Death if it could Wait until
We Finish writing our New Poem⁹
Do not be Surprised to see a Rose
Shoulder up among the Ruins of
A house: this is how we Survive¹⁰
All lines from Mosab Abu Toha, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear
¹ We Deserve a Better Death
² Cold Sweat
³ Palestine A-Z
⁴ What is Home?
⁵ Palestine A-Z
⁶ Forever Homeless
⁷ Hard Exercise
⁸ Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear
⁹ To Mahmoud Darwish
¹⁰ A Rose Shoulders Up