And then once more she crooned, what
She would was love when waves rove hither,
Diamonds descending on primordial shores;
Skies defiled by relentless raging demons,
They that broke the suns, that slew the lamb
As blood-rain clove the dawn and unleashed
Black doom on all the world. Oh, when will
These murderous maws resign? As the Cy-
Clopes rage, an inimitable light doth call. Was
The last song silent as it cascaded on the main?
Wraiths of Gaza roam beyond the groaning of
The interrealm, an interminable whiteness that
Stirs the cryptic primal sands; land of the un-
Leashed cannibal, where Cain slew his brother
And gave his soul to the crimson shadow. Where-
Fore came these barbarians, thou sparrow of
Gaza? Seraphs are keening over Richard’s
Shattered crown, the chalice is nigh, ephem-
Eral songs unsung. Can hallowed music once
Heard be e’er forgot? And so breathe on through
Plaintive groves, sing on through windswept
Sighs, sing on beyond the maelstrom, a voice
Pious and pristine, for a sage is calling beyond
The inexorable thunder – a poet alights to soothe
A newborn babe. And a chancel will rise unto
That roan empyrean: to mourn, to weep – to
Ascend beyond the sorrows of this grievous earth –
to see a fairy in the dusk, and dream again
• Palestinian poet and novelist Heba Abu Nada was martyred by the Zionist air force on October 20, 2023, in Khan Yunis. You can hear her recite her poetry here.