The Gospel of Mirrors

for peace activists in Palestine and Israel

by Bänoo Zan / October 22nd, 2023

Palestine—our land—
Israel—our land—

this land—my land—
your land—

our humanity—

rich in blood and tears—
prophecy and poetry—

fertile forced coitus—
of light and lust—

ever-erupting
violence—

While we raise
this glass of gore
in honor of grudges
new and old—

while we slaughter
our enemy-kin—

We turn into
the horror
we abhor—

We turn into
ourselves—

into this slaughterhouse—

this land—
our land—

the world—

Bänoo Zan is a poet, librettist, translator, teacher, editor and poetry curator, with more than 250 published poems and poetry-related pieces as well as three books including Songs of Exile and Letters to My Father. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), Toronto’s most diverse and brave poetry reading and open mic series (inception: 2012). Her social media links are: LinkedIn; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter Bänoo, along with Cy Strom, is the co-editor of the anthology: Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution, scheduled for publication in 2025. Read other articles by Bänoo.

This article was posted on Sunday, October 22nd, 2023 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.