Purity
Renounce all violence
of heart, word and deed—
only the blameless shall lead
Visionaries of this age,
like prophets of ages past,
are the moral reformers.
1/19/2024
Poems
I sent my poem sailing in the sky
and it did not make me rich,
but it landed on a far shore
and taught children to make a wish
I sent more poems out to sea
and they did not bring me a wife—
yet guided fishermen home in a storm
and by helping others, they saved my life.
1/24/2024
Hungering
In the midst of darkness
and ugliness,
I hungered
for light and beauty
I found it
reading and writing—
poetry, mysticism,
then silence.
1/17/2024
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?
1/29/2024
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.
1/31/2024
