Songs for Ceasefire

Each week we gather in a park
for what we call rehearsal.
Tonight it was along the lakefront
in Evanston under leafy canopy
next to a pebbled circle with grills
and picnic tables upon which we placed
potluck dinner for afterwards.
We start with a short song
From the River to the Sea
Palestine will be,
From the River to the Sea
Palestine will be free.
Tonight we were eleven and grew to nineteen.
We next sit in a circle and do introductions:
names, pronouns, what we are grateful for,
how we feel. There is frustration.
The genocide goes on. It is over nine
months. Kindness is in short supply.
Our music heals.
We play, then line up to march
the paths in the park. Tonight we are three guitars,
a bouzouki, flute, four types of drums, claves.
Voices. Marching we pass extended
families enjoying the waft off the water,
people from Ethiopia, people from Southeast
Asia and Mexico. Adults clap and video us
with their phones, children run alongside.
A man on his bicycle raises his fist in solidarity.
A man on a bench does not smile, looks away.
As we approach the end singing
Which Side are You On?
a woman appears offering a platter
of sliced watermelon.
Take some, she says. Eat.

This article was posted on Sunday, September 8th, 2024 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.