Running Orders - a Poem by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha

TPQ reproduces this deeply moving poem about the slaughter of the Palestinians. It was composed by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha.


"They call us now.
Before they drop the bombs.
The phone rings
and someone who knows my first name
calls and says in perfect Arabic
"This is David."
And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass shattering symphonies
still smashing around in my head
I think "Do I know any Davids in Gaza?"
They call us now to say
You have 58 seconds from the end of this message.
Your house is next.
They think of it as some kind of
war time courtesy.
It doesn't matter that
there is nowhere to run to.
It means nothing that the borders are closed
and your papers are worthless
and mark you only for a life sentence
in this prison by the sea
and the alleyways are narrow
and there are more human lives
packed one against the other
more than any other place on earth
Just run.
We aren't trying to kill you.
It doesn't matter that
you can't call us back to tell us
the people we claim to want aren't in your house
that there's no one here
except you and your children
who were cheering for Argentina
sharing the last loaf of bread for this week
counting candles left in case the power goes out.
It doesn't matter that you have children.
You live in the wrong place
and now is your chance to run
to nowhere.
It doesn't matter
that 58 seconds isn't long enough
to find your wedding album
or your son's favorite blanket
or your daughter's almost completed college application
or your shoes
or to gather everyone in the house.
It doesn't matter what you had planned.
It doesn't matter who you are
Prove you're human.
Prove you stand on two legs.
Run."

4 comments:

  1. from Sandy Boyer

    Resolution just passed by the Galway County Council:


    Galway County Council commits to send an urgent communique to the Minister of Foreign Affairs asking that the Irish government take concrete & immediate action in relation to the following:
    *Call for an 'immediate' end to Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza as a vital precondition to a lasting ceasefire agreement, or the Israeli Ambassador will be dispatched;
    *Call for an end to the illegal Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza;
    *Use its influence to condemn the current imposition of collective punishment upon the protected people of Palestine by the Israeli state;
    *Call for the EU to suspend Israel from the Euro-Med preferential trade agreement, Article 2 of which state that the “provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement". Failing this Ireland should suspend trading with Israel until hostilities towards Gaza cease;

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  2. From Beano

    I found this short poem extremely moving and tells the plight of an individual and of a community much more adeptly and acutely than an article or a book could. The human emotions and feelings almost make you numb ... helpless .. and hoping for some sort of solution ... against all hope. It is bizarre to think that this war is happening ..not too far from us ... and in the full glare of the world through all the media outlets and social networks. It is an outstanding piece of prose and deserves to be seen by everyone. Brilliant.

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  3. From Beano

    I found this short poem extremely moving and tells the plight of an individual and of a community much more adeptly and acutely than an article or a book could. The human emotions and feelings almost make you numb ... helpless .. and hoping for some sort of solution ... against all hope. It is bizarre to think that this war is happening ..not too far from us ... and in the full glare of the world through all the media outlets and social networks. It is an outstanding piece of prose and deserves to be seen by everyone. Brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely searing poem The stark realities captured in words... This is true poetry that tears at the heart and spirit.

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