Poet: Hallie Kunen
We Palestinians say we can find hope in the breeze—
but these days it just rains
I throng to the tent for respite,
but there’s debris in every freshet
bodies, corpses, and rotting flesh
blood streaked on every cloth extant.
I don’t want to die by bombs
a violent skewer ramming every contour
every limb concassed into a deform
guess it doesn’t matter either way if I’m beneath the floor
so take me out by fire
watch me burn alive
transuding gas chambers into an oasis
rendering the Nazis winners with a Holocaust makeshift
Israel has colonized the whole world, except us,
but when it comes to who will feel the embers of karma, conflagrating to consume,
you’re next up.
Additional information
“‘Iisrayiyl Yahm Alhisab” means “judgment day of Israel” in Arabic.
My objective with this poem was to capture to the reader what it is like to be a displaced Palestinian refugee (both emotionally, and also to be constantly suffering under threat.)
I have also noticed over the past 2 years of my staying in touch with Palestinians and reading their writing/work, how very poetic and articulate they are (in addition to strong and resilient,) and I tried to capture that in this poem. Of course they are courageous too, in addition to a multitude of other positive qualities.
Author bio:
Hallie Kunen started writing poetry in her teens, as an outlet to process her thoughts on this complicated world. She took a break in early college, and then was inspired to write again after joining Stain’d Arts, a nonprofit in Denver, CO, that lifts marginalized voices. This inspired her to continue to write on both political (aka *humanity) matters and also her personal life. She currently lives in NYC.