Meanwhile in Gaza
Starvation is still the blue plate special
And whisper-thin children
Quietly endure imposed malnutrtion because
What else can they do?
Meanwhile in Gaza
Parents have honed their thespian skills
Pretending that even if all is not well right now
Soon beautiful new homes will appear
Where the children will be warm and dry.
Meanwhile in Gaza
Little children with empty bellies
And heads full of the dead
Play on the ghost beaches
And in the phantom streets of absence.
Meanwhile in Gaza
Donald Trump’s Peace Board
Is busily calculating the division of spoils
And working out what kind of tax to levy
So the Palestinians will pay for their own subjugation.
Meanwhile in Gaza
There is no fuel, no power, no heat
In the flimsy tents that do not keep out the rain
That do not keep out the cold
That do not keep out the nightmares.
Meanwhile in Gaza
Three tents and two carpets make a school
A wheel-less wagon makes a public conveyance
A tightly wound bunch of rags makes a soccer ball
And a child with no hands plays goalie.
