Shattered

 

How painfully innocence dies in cherubic brown faces,

Some unbroken still gambol in the phosphorous rubble,

These within a mother's or kindred's tethering gaze, 

Allah's silent through munition blasts or murmured prayer.

Shattered,

Faith,

Hope,

Love.

Ammad, beautiful boy sheltering in dangerous places,

Hellfire bursts over, under, around, his tender frame,

Despondent dad gently cups Ammed's sallow cheeks, 

Asunder his gory remains. Pleas ending in blank stares.

Shattered.

Son.

Heart.

Love.

Amna, kind girl, bravely offering kin simple graces,

Fetching water when water is marked by munitions,

Remnant relatives ever mourn in her empty spaces, 

In this place of pain and nations n'er giving a care.

Shattered.

Daughter.

Despair.

Love.

Sidra, from Gaza to Rafah found no safe places,

Gospel guided bombs erased her shrinking world,

Died she of the blast or the shredding of her frame,

Feet frayed, spiked to a wall, hanging in mid-air,

Shattered.

Shattered.

Shattered.

Love.

Ammad Al-Najjar

Amna al-Mufti

Sidra Hassouna