I'm in awe of your smile
beautiful honest warm wise
from how many tears is it born
was it there before
how many tears will it take to wear it off
won't it ever die
me, nobody, hidden in the shadows
by those who don't allow it to pass by
looking at it like a fool moon standing in the clear dark sky
I see colors, flowers, hope
what kind of strength is this
to be able to smile when you are bombed
when headless children their parents hold
when children carry in plastic bags their brothers and sisters in pieces
when patients are shot in the hospital beds
when men are burnt in their tents alive
when newborn babies are left in the incubators to die
when screams are trapped under ruins knowing they will die
when kids collapse from hunger in the streets
when a tank smashes a human body leaving minced meat behind
when soldiers play with the toys of the kids that they killed
wearing the lingerie of their mothers as a triumph
and posting them on dating apps online
dancing over the ruins below whose screams silenced alive
laughing watching their bombs falling on students' future
destroying schools, universities, hospitals cemeteries, and churches
killing professors, doctors, journalists
vanishing history and future
we 've all seen it all
we all did nothing
is this smile the laughter of God
telling us that we are nothing
unworthy to be alive
I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I'm about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.
said Aaron before setting himself on fire
If we are going to die, we will not die in silence. If we are going to live, we are going to live in dignity.
said Bisan with that beautiful smile
