written by jude hammouda
flowing down the slope of the countryside,
cold currents never ending
constant like time, tick tock
Never ending, moving onward as the world moves forward to forget,
Forget the lives lost.
But for you, the rivers flow down your “state”, “occupied territory”, anything but country,
anything but Home.
cold, alkaline waters
Thriving ecosystems for generations, and more to come
Turned to contaminated waters, warning signs along the shore
Watercress weeds sprouting above the surface of the water,
adapting to the harsh river environment.
soon thriving under the conditions put upon them
The watercress people of your “state” must survive in their hostile environment.
Or not.
The seeds of their bloodlines getting carried by the wind of death,
Just trying to hold onto each and every breath.
Carrying them to other countries.
Anywhere but their “state”.
Anywhere but their Home.
they told us time would heal,
the wounds they caused.
Tick tock
but all time did was erode through the riverbed,
Carving out the graves deeper, deeper, deeper
the irony killing us, graves getting fuller, fuller, fuller
the rocks thrown into the river sink to the bottom,
untouched by the future.
the river ground littered with pollution alongside the rocks
trash caused by the invaders of the world,
Martyr after martyr,
Men, women, children, or unidentifiable
Unceasing killing
constant like time, tick tock
The invaders taking the name “Dead Sea” too literal
Casting away the bodies of their invasions into the water like a rock,
never to touch their future.
For did they even have a past?
No name, no family, no past, no future, no Home.
The only past known was unending resilience.
Cause of Death: being Palestinian.