May 29, 2021 Protest for Palestine

by Arya F. Jenkins / June 6th, 2021

By the time we get to DC
Only 5,000 people remain
Most of them brown
Most of them Palestinian
Protesting the Israeli occupation and
Senseless killing of women and children

Seventy four years is a lifetime
To train violence into your system
So you can fall asleep to the blasted sounds of
Buildings falling
People dying
Behind your eyes a bright light
Always shining
And you pretending the caterwauling of horror
Is but the sea calling

God is the sea that comes and goes
Willy nilly while human beings
Exchange places with numbers
Beyond the long shadow of death
Encompassing the world
There is silence
Where there should be weeping
Accord where there should be protest
Antipathy where there should be a great outpouring—

Of what?

Of love for what 74 years has wrought
For the cancerous cells that do not die
The eyes that do not close
The evil that does not cease
The mouth that never stops competing
With the cry of sirens and bombs
We have told ourselves is
But the sea calling.

Arya F. Jenkins is a Colombian-American poet, writer and peace and social justice activist whose poems have appeared in numerous journals and zines such as Agave Magazine, Blue Heron Review, Cider Press Review, Dying Dahlia Review, Dissident Voice, The Ekphrastic Review and more. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She has also published poetry reviews in Cleaver Magazine, Cider Press Review, Rhino Poetry, The Poetry Cafe and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Poetry is forthcoming in Luna Luna Magazine. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks and a short story collection, Blue Songs in an Open Key (Fomite Press, 2018). Her novel, Punk Disco Bohemian, and a collection of short stories, Angel in Paris & Other Stories, are due for release through NineStar Press in 2021. Read other articles by Arya F., or visit Arya F.'s website.

This article was posted on Sunday, June 6th, 2021 at 8:04am and is filed under Poetry.