Sabra/Shatilla: In Sorrow
By Sam Hamod
It is nothing, the blood
red into stony ground nothing, we can say
nothing, the flares red and white, blue, nothing
against black sky, faces flur, nothing
sharp rope cuts into wrists, it is
nothing, slash of knife on throat, gurgline knowing
nothing, phalangist, israeli, we hear phalange not spoken
it is in the face, frangiiyah', gemeyal, it is
nothing, mustche moves,
nothing, these words
nothing, thunk thunk of bazookas, crunch
of bone, nothing, it is nothing, the
children run hiding uner the bed
like play, a man comes in
they say nothing, he laughs, tells them
they'll be safe, nothing, no sound, he
shouts, "Come out" nothing
he lifts the bed,
their big eyes open,
he laughs,
his Uzi sputters--
they are nothing
their flesh nothing
oh, it is nothing
do not worry, they are
nothing it is
nothing, do not worry, nothing
has happened,
nothing, it is nothing, say it is nothing --
By Sam Hamod
It is nothing, the blood
red into stony ground nothing, we can say
nothing, the flares red and white, blue, nothing
against black sky, faces flur, nothing
sharp rope cuts into wrists, it is
nothing, slash of knife on throat, gurgline knowing
nothing, phalangist, israeli, we hear phalange not spoken
it is in the face, frangiiyah', gemeyal, it is
nothing, mustche moves,
nothing, these words
nothing, thunk thunk of bazookas, crunch
of bone, nothing, it is nothing, the
children run hiding uner the bed
like play, a man comes in
they say nothing, he laughs, tells them
they'll be safe, nothing, no sound, he
shouts, "Come out" nothing
he lifts the bed,
their big eyes open,
he laughs,
his Uzi sputters--
they are nothing
their flesh nothing
oh, it is nothing
do not worry, they are
nothing it is
nothing, do not worry, nothing
has happened,
nothing, it is nothing, say it is nothing --
so be peaceful brothers and sisters do not run away
we are all Arabs we will do nothing it is nothing we do nothing
it is nothing it didn't happen if it did it is nothing
oh, it is nothing
nothing at all
and now, say it and believe it, it is nothing
nothing nothing
Oh Allah, nothing.
c: sam hamod the poem may be circulated as u wish
sam hamod is one of the first of the contemporary arab american poets on the scene,from the 1960s he has been publishing poetry about palestine and the middle east; he has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry; has published 10 books and recently appeared in
We Begin Here: Poems on Palestine and Lebanon, edited by Kamal Boullata and Kathy Engel,; was in And Not Surrender: Poems on Palestine,edited by Kamal Boullata, and has appeared in over 200 anthologies worldwide.
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