I woke up slowly
To the sound
Of a rat

Chewing through the insulation
In the eves of this house
Built
On stolen land

Feared

He might come raining down
When
I would still
Have all the power

He might find himself bruised and dazed
And i might
Bash his head in

I am
“isr@el”

Afraid of the impossibility of the rat
Chewing away at this home
Not rightfully mine

I am human

Do not apply the transitive property here

“isr@el” is not human

I am human
So i wish the rat would go away
That i could sleep

Ideally, we could both sleep

Could stop thinking about the despair

The thousands of children
Dead
Missing
Under the rubble

No–

Could stop the despair
Could stop the thousands of children
From dying, stop the rubble too

Resurrect their brothers
Bake them bread
Brew tea with sugar
Replant the olive trees
Insh@ll@h we will

I don’t know much arabic
But i do know
Allahu akbar gxd is good
And gxd is grieving
Because jXsus was P4les+inian

I don’t know much arabic
trying , in prayer, to stop the despair
Is teaching me how to be human

How sleep and food are precious
And necessary

How each life, mine included, is precious
And necessary

I did not need genoc\de to learn this
I did not need e+hn\c cle@ns\ng to learn this
I did not need occupation to learn this

What i needed was–
Good food and many hands on my shoulders

What i needed was–
Not “isr@el”
Not “@meric@”
Not nuclear family
And definitely
Not nuclear w@r