Response to "Letters to a Friend Who Doesn't Know the Meaning of War"
To Ruba Khalid and the many voices of Gaza she embodies
the sky weeps this morning
reminding me that i have tears of my own
which could water my soul if i’d let them;
i don't know how to cry for a world as distant as mars
they separate us — or maybe i separate myself;
i see headlines of war and genocide alongside
celebrity gossip and fitness op-eds like sweet juice
that chases the bitter sting of vodka
i sip and forget the taste
fast media is convenient this way
we never linger too long on one story or the next
like flashes of lightning the moment passes too fast
to illuminate the darkness in our hearts;
but your voice thundered above the clouds,
your words glared at me like stars across distant worlds;
i could not look away,
i could not sip without savoring
the bitter lament of war i know nothing of,
but am learning the taste through another's tongue
words lose meaning when truth is denied breath;
people say things they don't mean
and mean things they don't say;
these are the seeds of war that blossom
into atrocities beyond reason
but truth is the language of peacemakers
and i hear it now — i see it in your words;
words carried carefully like the last grains of rice,
poured meticulously like the final drops of water
when words are all we have, we use them wisely;
lift them to the heavens praying five loaves will feed five thousand,
three drops of oil will last until relief pours down like rain
this is the burden and joy of the poet
this is the hope you've carried across galaxies to reach mine
so i hold them gently, now, with care and attention;
not allowing a single one to run out
I was moved to write this after reading this poem from
. Her words and the words of many others from the are windows into a world much closer than we choose to believe. I have little to offer, but my eyes and my ears. That’s where I will start. My eyes and my ears . . . and my heart.
So beautifully scribed Micah, so heartfelt, voicing the words so many of us feel. I do not know or claim to have the tiniest idea of what they are going through in Gaza but you described my sentiments so well. Thank-you for your compassion and sensitivity along with your gift of poetry.
Micah, your poetic response to Khalid is a meaningful one that brings your reader in close to what is real in this climate we are finding ourselves in.