The Burn
By Naomi Shihab NyeSuch a swift lump rises in the throat when
a uniformed woman spits Throw it away!
and you tremble to comply wondering why
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The Wall
By Grace CavalieriThe child stands weeping.
She holds uncooked rice in one hand waiting.
She's idealized into a picture
Belly Song
By Kathleen HellenI sit in the front row of
bleachers -- cheap seats for greater grief.
My son
Can Safety Matches Make Us Safe?
By Judith ArcanaYou read the tiny cardboard book before
you scratch the strip under Augie's New Pizza
on the back of MIA:We still don't know
Suspension of Disbelief
By Jane SeitelI wake into yet another day of doubt
creeping in as ants through a warped doorjamb.
The morning news brings new atrocities
War Story
By Claire ZoghbHe’s put the war out of his mind. Shelling and murdered relatives behind him.
Migrant Earth
By Deema K. ShehabiI could tell you that listening is made for the ashen sky,
and instead of the muezzin's voice, which lingers
like weeping at dawn,
The Price of a Life
By Melanie GrahamShe appears again, 2-year-old riding her hip,
grief so great he can see through her birkha, past Qualaday,
into the kitchen, his mother nurturing chicken
in popping grease.
Guidelines
By Lisa Suhair MajajIf they ask you what you are,
say Arab. If they flinch, don't react,
just remember your great-aunt's eyes.
Groundwork
By M.J. IuppaThe fence that wasn't a barrier, that didn't hold
anything back or up, but was the grid over the scene of
smoke rising, smoldering from September