Two Litanies for Palestine

"Incomplete List of Unauthorized Palestinians" and "a litany of refusals to become ghostly"


 

 

Incomplete List of Unauthorized Palestinians
Pending Review, Subject to Amendment*

palestinian pilots, flight attendants, & air traffic controllers
palestinian real estate agents & elementary school teachers
palestinian science fiction writers
palestinian professors of math and chemistry
palestinian journalists
palestinian baristas
palestinian taxi drivers
palestinian train conductors
palestinian ticket takers at the movie theatre
palestinian cashiers & car salesmen
palestinian appliance repairmen
palestinian lawyers
palestinian women comedians
palestinian drag queens and kings
palestinian editors, bank tellers, & engineers
palestinian astronauts & astrophysicists
palestinian bus drivers
palestinians who don’t speak arabic or english
palestinians who speak german or spanish or french
palestinians with one non-palestinian parent
palestinians with one non-palestinian parent who isn’t white
palestinians with one non-palestinian parent who is also indigenous
palestinians who are the children of any of those palestinians
palestinian children
palestinian civilians
palestinian non-combatants
palestinian innocents
palestinians on every continent except antarctica
palestinians in antarctica
palestinians on the moon, on the sea
palestinian fishermen past the blockade line
palestinian plumbers
palestinian veterinarians
palestinian trauma surgeons & trauma therapists
palestinian rescue workers & medics
palestinian web designers
palestinian photographers
palestinian climate scientists
palestinian toxicologists, ecologists, & graphic designers
palestinian pastry chefs & painters
palestinian contractors & carpenters, at least one of them famous
palestinian shepherds and farmers
palestinian tailors and fashion designers
palestinian wedding planners
palestinian equestrians
palestinian bodybuilders
palestinian kickboxers & filmmakers
palestinian historians & world champions
palestinian tunnel diggers
palestinian marching bands
palestinian flag makers & freedom fighters
palestinian revolutionaries & race car drivers
palestinian fútbol players and referees
palestinian catchers, pitchers, batters, umpires and outfielders
palestinian swimmers & distance runners
palestinian arborists, entomologists, & house mothers
palestinian nurses
palestinian blood donors
palestinian epidemiologists
palestinian researchers
palestinian publishers & copyeditors
palestinian knitters, quilters, & crocheters
palestinian sculptors
palestinian musicians
palestinian singers
palestinian barbers
palestinian wigmakers & hydrologists
palestinian environmentalists & make-up artists
palestinian mermaids
palestinian beekeepers & birdwatchers
palestinian adults, children, and elders

*Exceptions Rules and Limitations May Apply, not available with any other offers, acceptance indicates agreement to terms and arbitration rules, distributor retains the right to alter list contents and terms at any time, including the right to revoke funding or support without notice, list does not represent the opinions, rights, or commitments of distributor and cannot be used as the basis for performance reviews, hiring or firing decisions, school expulsions, travel restrictions, or academic research, or as evidence in a court of law in this or any other nation, including nations that are no longer recognized and nations that may be recognized in the future, no warranty is implied by this or any other statements.

 

a litany of refusals to become ghostly

all the women are dying or forming battalions in the mountains
all the women are dying or going underground
all the women are dying or going into exile
all the women are dying or giving birth at the checkpoint
all the women are dying or in prison
all the women are dying or taking detours over the homes they can’t go back to
all the women are dead or else they are embroidering
                                                       money and food to stitch to their children’s tongues

all the children are dying or they are in protest
all the children are dead or they are reading poems at the border
all the children are dead or they are taking pieces of the wall home in their pockets
all the children are dead or they are flying kites against fighter jets
all the children are dying or they are becoming the adults who are dead

all the men are dead and on posters or they are in prison
all the men are dead or they are writing books
all the men are dying or they are digging escape tunnels with spoons
all the men are dying or they are leading songs along the wall
all the men are dying or they are flipping ladders over fences
all the men are dying or flying over every border
all the men are dead or else they are against the wall

all the students are dying or else they are organizing
all the students are dying or they are being gassed
all the students are dead or they are losing their scholarships
all the students are dying or they are stealing food for each other
all the students are dead or they are doxxed

all the women have been arrested or they are driving themselves
all the women have been assaulted or they are leading the people gathered in the square
all the women have been assassinated or else they are arresting the police

all the queers are dying or they are taking the old mens’ microphones

all the people are dying or they are refusing to go home
they are dying and dying and dead or they are refusing
we are dying we are dying we are dying we are dead
or else we are refusing to our last breath

 



When I Close My Eyes

When I close my eyes, the only things that have ever dropped from the sky in Gaza are droplets of rainfall. They nourish the gardens, they soothe the cracked, dry earth, they fall upon faces like a lullaby.


Free Black Gxrlz and Free Palestine

Solidarity is profoundly simple at its core: should we ever find that our comfort is at the expense of someone else’s life, it becomes our responsibility to divorce from such comforts.