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Tag: #Palestine

Genocide Ghazal

-Delhi, November 29, 2024

UN conventions aim to restrain all genocide–
but committees and courts have failed to tame this genocide.

Who targets hospitals, children and schools in Palestine?
The IDF’s AI is specially trained for genocide.

Long-ago kings displayed rebel heads in town squares;
now soldiers post reels; they entertain with genocide.

Endless photos of violence and death, says Joe Sacco,
…no human can process the horror and pain of genocide.

And how do our leaders show their support for Israel?
Permission Denied for protests that name this genocide.

American liberals dread Donald Trump; they forget
Biden provided the bombs that sustain this genocide.

Dust and smoke paint our evening sky gray in New Delhi;
at sunset in Gaza, the sky bears the stain of genocide.

I heard you wake shaking again before dawn, my love–
was it your past–or the faraway flames of genocide?

Look in the mirror, what do you see, Hamraaz?
I’ve failed, we’ve failed, we live with the shame of genocide.
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As Bombs Fall in Gaza, I think of Umar Khalid

The Delhi air turned cool,
so we set out into the night;

we argued about the future–
you said, I was too optimistic.

The G20-potted-plants
were wilting or already dead;

we cursed our leaders and wondered
if curses were now illegal. 

We knew the answer was yes–
and that bombs were falling in Gaza;

at this moment, children were calling, 
Amma, when will this stop?

When it rained, we ducked for cover,
I thought of Umar Khalid–

the wind smelled of woken soil–
I prayed somehow he could smell it.

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