Laid Bare VI
The sixth poem in the Skendong Laid Bare series reflects on displacement, loss, and the relentless toll of war. Drawing on contemporary events alongside recurring biblical themes, it explores grief, endurance, and the human cost of prolonged conflict.
There was a pause
Reunions and smiles.
Now
It’s more apocalyptic.
2 million
Nakba descendants
Displaced
Sectioned into a tiny space.
Fear etched
On every child’s face
Despite
What Yehoshua says.
Occupiers shooting
Everything moving
A terrifying blood soaked
Apartheid state.
The drones buzz
Sniffing out the next slaughter
Gathering data
As people fight for water
Fight for food
Desolation.
Desolation.
There’s nothing
Nothing
Nothing…
As Fatima is pulled
From the dusty carnage
And passed
From hand to hand to hand
Mohammed
Indignant arms waving
Stands on the mountain top
Of pummelled stone
Screaming
Akbar Akbar Akbar –
The Ilah is silent.
Deprived
Of hope, faith –
The world turns its eye
As death
Still brings
Unsurmountable grief
And martyrs
Transported by the truckload
To makeshift cemeteries.
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