By Fanan Rasheed
Waking up to the thunderclap of bombs
Have become like birds chirping early morning for us.
To stay alive to see the next sunrise
Has become a blessing for us.
The fighter jets parading the skies above our rooftop,
With sigh I look at my sibling,
a toddler smiling unknowing of the pain and suffering.
Having led a traumatized childhood,
Bearing witness to the killing of my own Baba in front of my very own eyes as he refused to abandon our home.
After all do they consider us nomads
To keep shifting from one household to another.
Will there ever be a place to rightfully call home?
Grandfather's been taking care of us since 5 years now
His old age isn't really co-operating
At times I see him scream in agony
About his sore back,swollen legs, scars in the forehead.
For he has to undertake labour at construction sites at the age of 70,
For his grandchildren to reap the fruits of His hardwork and to live a life without complaints..
Been 2 years since my school's closed
I always wonder will those doors ever open again?
Will I be able to read textbooks,jot down notes,
listen to my class teacher’s scolding or
see those happy bright faces of my fellow classmates..
These privileges seem far fetched and out of reach.
In this foggy road of uncertainty ,
As life took a U-turn through prickly roads
of sacrifice,bloodshed,despair and darkness.
Will the road eventually end as a dead end?
Or will it diverge into a better path to set foot on?
I don't want my baby brother
to know Of the struggles that we've been through.
To take him away to some faraway land
Where no military forces of this land could ever parade to.
To an island of dreams
surrounded by shiny crystal clear blue waters
With people as loving as family Whom I can call mine.
Give my granddad a better life
Free from the clutches of slavery
Why is only child labour considered illegal?
'Old labour' as I term it,
should equally be a punishable offence.
To sit by the sea side making sandcastles from the dunes of sand
Sipping on a lemonade
Lying on a recliner seat
under The cozy warmth of the umbrella,
Away from all pain and miseries.
Been calling the names of all gods and
praying for their mercy
since the time I learned to fold my hands.
Snapping away from this good summer dream
which seems far too fictious.
Life has never been fair to my family.
Not just mine but to all the other Palestine kids.
I can recite the sounds of bomb explosion
and missiles falling from the sky,
Perhaps more accurately than
I'll ever be able to hum the tune of my nursery rhymes.
To the celebrities and media channels
who don't report about our miserable fates
living in ur comfort zones in the well of fortunes.
There comes a day-The dooms day
where all of us will assemble under one same sky
Then all of ur positions,fame and recognition
won't reduce the fact that we all are
mere humans who have sinned and
failed to accept or repent for our deeds.
The world that u are in,
The beautiful life you are enjoying right now
will vanish in the blink of an eye.
You transient creatures have some shame,
For your fellow beings are tortured to death
Living in a hell hole since years
yearning for their voices to be heard,
yelping for help,
dreadfully watching our shelters
being crushed by fierce monster JCBs,
Fearfully awaiting death sooner or later.
I'm penning this down, holding back every drop of tear About to gush down my eyes.
Pleading y'all to realise our call for action
To stop ignoring and pretending
To not know our wailing.
To get us out of this dungeon of helplessness.
To provide emotional support
To escape this cursed land
filled with ruins and remains of ancestral homes.
By Fanan Rasheed
Nice perae... Enjoyed reading it
A great one Fanan!
How beautifully written !! 🤩
a very thoughtful resonation of their feelings❤️
Nice🤍