Palestinian Music

For more than a hundred days,
in a daze, I read & wrote of Gaza
stunned, overwhelmed, indignant

Yet, all along, unable to cry
(I don’t know why)
until, today…

Listening to Palestinian music
I wept, helplessly, at the pity,
longing, waste of it all & weep still.

Video Reading: https://youtube.com/shorts/4iKf7mBxPfU?si=Uk7x6G5kL7dOHf3T

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Starving

When did we learn
starvation is acceptable
as a form of punishment?

‘Go to your room,’
children are told
‘no dinner for you’

Today, we witness
Palestinians denied food,
dignity or even mercy

When can they leave
their prison cells,
occupied since birth?

Video reading:  https://youtube.com/shorts/3YRgyZEaP54?si=y1GCrH2gH7y2M9yn

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Hungering 

In the midst of darkness 
and ugliness,
I hungered
for light and beauty

I found it 
reading and writing—
poetry, mysticism,
then silence.

Video Reading: https://youtube.com/shorts/ZH-Vq-R0yKI?si=DnZT8TCKYnKGLEIh

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Never Retreating

a poet stands
trusting on front-lines
ready for martyrdom
risking infection
with the virus
of their age

she examines herself
erupting in flames
or forming antibodies
battling disease
growing stronger
to heal others.

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Yahia Lababidi, Arab-American, is the author of eleven books of poetry and prose. Lababidi’s forthcoming book, Palestine Wail, is a collection of his poems (due in 2024). His recent works include a collection of meditative aphorisms, Quarantine Notes (2023); a love letter to the deserts of Egypt, Desert Songs (2022); and spiritual reflections, Learning to Pray (2021). Lababidi, regularly, posts short literary videos on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Yahia.Lababidi