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from Nazareth,
Israel
Rita Odeh
Thus We Sing...(5)
"Am I my brother's keeper...?"
The newscaster's face appeared in his usual seriousness:
(God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you).
Soon after his wishes for peace, scenes of destruction followed:
human cells spread in the air everywhere. The voice of blood is
heard screaming from every spot in the earth.
The newscaster is interviewing an American official in an
attempt to expose the real face of his humanity. Many shouts and
insults. Another official leaves his seat without apology.
*** ***
I start scratching the scalp of my
head. Something thorny hurts. I Press one nail on the other.
Oh God:
—Lice...!!
As if the pain I suffer is not sufficient to meet my daily
needs.
As if I need a dose of an additional pain.
I feel extra worried.
I run to the bottle of kerosene.
I pour abundantly on my hands and wash my hair.
I start coughing. I run to the window.
*** ***
Staring at the passers by in the
street which extends to the garbage container, I see human
ghosts moving in every direction. Each of them is scratching
either his own scalp or the other's in disharmonic rhythms.
__________________________
Thus We Sing...(6)
—Jerusalem—
A woman on the Via Dolorosa,
who is dish topped with loaves of bread which may suffice her
day is walking cautiously.
Near the barbed wire, she stands shivering.
The shot of one bullet, two, and three are heard.
She starts flying among the birds, chanting:
Here I am the city of peace!
Love has suffocated in the hearts of my children.
Violence enslaves them all.
__________________________
Thus We Sing...(7)
—Lost
Innocence—
As some young kid's dreams,
hers began with a noble knight and a white horse,
but ended in a golden cage and a jailer.
As some young kid's dreams,
his began with a kite and a ball,
but ended with a gun and a rifle.
Rita Odeh
Nazareth, Israel
Read the first section of
"Thus we sing" published in the December 2007
Sketchbook.
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