Heart of the Rubble
This contemporary poem reflects on Gaza, civilian loss, and the human cost of war. Through the image of a woman standing among the ruins, the poem considers grief, survival, moral numbness, and the rise and fall of empires.
she paused
in the man-made rubble
on top of torpedoed dome –
the dust has settled.
rescuers have fled now,
digging with bare hands
for a family of four in
az-Zahayada, Deir al-Balah.
in black & white keffiyeh
styled like a hijab,
elegantly draped
in embroidered thobe she’s
boldly staring at us
as wildfires and apocalyptic
rage encircle. Gaza
not yet wiped off the map
yet we laugh, live, eat,
& be merry, transformed
into stone inside.
strange how one life
seems to weigh so much,
while another fades away.
ashes have no place to go
but fertilize the land &
when winds of change blow,
surely as she sits there
from history we know:
empires come, empires go.
Back to Myth, History & Cultural Memory
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Cyrus the Great: A Poem for Palestine
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