Gaza Sonnet
This contemporary sonnet reflects on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where hunger, displacement, violence, and the struggle for food have become part of daily life. Through stark imagery of aid, drones, hunger, and war, the poem confronts the human cost of conflict and the loss of hope amid devastation.
Unarmed, unfed, unprotected, they tread,
For food parcels dealt by cold, ruthless hands.
A death trap masked as mercy, cloaked in dread,
Gunmen scout the crowd, the UN banned.
They risk the crush of death within their land,
No lullabies or baby milk remain.
Pounding animal feed to make a sort of flour –
Leaves become food that dull the hunger pain.
The drones above hum like a ghostly choir,
Their watchful eyes extend the catastrophe.
The Holy Land consumed in unbelievable fire,
Sacred blood spilled beneath the cross’s glare.
This nightmare lives; no refuge to be found,
Hope seems buried under children’s bones.
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