Syria has been breaking my heart open, Palestine, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the present springing from a bloodied history of colonialism, intervention and horror. Today we are left with dead children. Numbed children. Cities flattened. Homes lost. Loves lost. Everything lost. People fleeing, suffering without succor. The racist idiocy in all of this of French police forcing women to strip themselves of veils and burkinis (fierce blogs out today here and here). I don’t write much about current happenings, other people are doing that much better than I could. The horror of a world at war, whole populations uprooted and struggling with violent death and loss, sits inside me though. Along with helplessness. Marching, signing petitions, emails, contributions…not enough. Recognizing that all of our struggles connect? Not enough either, but we must not forget it and we must wrestle with what that means. June Jordan did this with an integrity and a reach that humbles me. There is a wonderful blog here from Therese Saliba on June Jordan and her solidarity with the Palestinian struggle in essays and verse.
There is this poem from Living Room, 1985, a book dedicated to the children of Atlanta and Lebanon.
March Song
Snow knuckles melted to pearls
of black water
Face like a landslide of stars
in the dark.Icicles plunging to waken the grave
Tree berries purple and bitten
by birdsCurves of horizon squeeze
on the sky
Telephone wires glide
down the moonOutlines of space later
pieces of land
with names like Beirut
where the game is to tear
up the whole Hemisphere
into pieces of children
and patches of sandAsleep on a pillow the two
of us whisper we know
about apples and hot bread
and honeyHunting for safety
and eager for peace
We follow the leaders who chew up
the land
with names like Beirut
where the game is to tear
up the whole Hemisphere
into pieces of children
and patches of sandI’m standing in place
I’m holding your hand
and pieces of children
on patches of sand (362-363)
Living room, room to live. This is from ‘Moving Towards Home’
I was born a Black woman
and now
I am become a Palestinian
against the relentless laughter of evil
there is less and less living room
and where are my loved ones?It is time to make our way home. (400)
More poetry…
