Loud.
It’s loud,
dark,
cold.
The rain is pouring down on Gaza.
Even the clouds weep,
witnessing this genocide.
Two young sisters,
holding on to each other,
shivering while the water pools around them.
There’s nowhere to go.
There are no parents to protect them.
Lives taken away.
Love lost.
Future robbed.
Thunder roaring,
screaming in agony.
If the whole world will stay silent,
Mother Nature won’t.
Lightning,
providing a fraction of a second of light
to those in absolute darkness.
A mother spotting the tears
streaming down her son’s face.
His tiny tummy growling,
they could not find any food today.
A wife getting a glimpse
of her husband’s corpse.
His remains are barely recognizable.
One last look,
one last goodbye,
but not the last heartbreak.
More loss awaits my people.
Unimaginable pain.
Trauma.
So much trauma…
Incessant buzzing drones,
constant anxiety,
psychological warfare…
What about those under the rubble?
Injured, scared, alone.
Waiting…
And waiting…
For salvation.
“Help…”
For someone to hear them.
“Baba?”
Their voices are getting weaker.
“Mama?”
No reply.
Slowly…
Fading away.
Wondering if any family members survived.
Knowing they probably didn’t.
Praying for mercy.
Mercy…
No mercy.
Fading…
No humanity.
Silence.
I, the daughter of Lightning,
the one exiled from her land,
the one who’s always the outsider,
pray for a miracle.
The pain is too much to bear.
I pray for the safety of my people,
who are not merely numbers.
I pray to go back to my land,
be one with the poppies and the olive trees.
I pray for a free Falasteen.
I pray for a divine intervention,
because the rest of the world let us down.
Everyone.
Is.
Complicit.
…
Tamara Al-Barq, a 26 year old Palestinian doctor with hEDS, specifically from Nablus and Ramallah. She currently is based in Cyprus, doing her PhD in Medical Biology & Genetics while trying to stay connected to her roots via her art. She hopes to be able to make the Palestinian culture and tatreez reach every household, so the world would see the beauty of her homeland. Find more of her work on instagram: @TatreezWithTam.
