For Gaza: No Monuments
(Today, Israel flooded Gaza by opening its illegally constructed dams with water stolen from Palestine; I also posted this on Oscar night because so many in Hollywood support Israel, and are given “monuments”/Oscars/ tonight for what are often mediocre movies)
no monument stands
over the graves of Gaza,
no monument stands
over the graves of Esa, Zinab,
Mohammad, Yusuf, Leila, Ali,
Jameel, Freida, Mariam, Ghassan,
no monument to speak
of the terrorism
these children suffered,
no monument
to Rachel Corrie who came
from faraway America to help
these children keep their lives,
their homes,
no monument that speaks
of the American aid
that helped the Israeli army, its
tanks, and rockets, shred
these children, no
no monument that speaks
of the UN that stood by
and did nothing, no
monument, no news, no outrage,
no, nothing
but silence, and even their graves,
in Gaza, as of today, are being
washed away as the Israeli
illegal dams are opened, flooding Gaza,
no monuments,
no grave markers standing now,
no monuments,
no words,
no
nothing at all, just
silence
© Sam Samod, 2.22.15
Sam Hamod has a Ph.D from The Writers Workshop at The University of Iowa (one of the few ever given), has taught at Iowa, Princeton, Michigan and Howard, and overseas; he has published 15 books, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by both Ray Carver and Ishmael Reed (but never expected to enter that clique who decides such prizes), and has also been a blues singer, jazz musician, owned a bar on the south side of Gary, Indiana, became Director of The Islamic Center of Washington, DC, and now lives in Princeton and runs the international literary site, www.contemporaryworldliterature.com Also, in his past life, he founded and ran Third World News in Washington, DC and wrote for television and also founded and edited, www.todaysalternativenews.com, and www.contemporaryworldpoetry.com. He may be contacted at drsamhamod@gmail.com He is also available for readings and workshops anywhere; he is, as he says, “a free man in Paris”, though he lives in Princeton, NJ, LOL
Astonishing poem. And true to what you wrote, I knew nothing about this. Shame on me.
I’m grateful to have read your poetry, Sam. Thank you.
I thought “Birdman” was much better than mediocre, and I thought it was too bad “Boyhood” didn’t get enough attention.
Very powerful poem. Thank you for sharing your insight.