The Limits of Love
You’re welcome to a small helping
of care, a portion of our concern
Ache, if you like, but don’t cry
on our shoulder, for overlong
Please, help yourself and move on
or you may find yourself, abruptly
at the outskirts of compassion
by the fence, where barbed wire begins
There is a sign that you can’t miss:
Keep out, it reads, in blood red;
Private territory, trespassers
will be shot with indifference.
Blasphemous Praise
The poet is a prophet:
a fisher of souls,
a human sacrifice,
sent to save you
an undoer of knots,
your sworn advocate,
a life-long listener,
a reminder when you forget
your unknown friend,
a helper in affliction,
and with your consent,
a trusted healer.
Timing
In the midst of a genocide,
our Peace Lily began to bloom
For years, it withheld its flowers,
but sensing a great need
it could not bear it any longer
& granted us radiant relief.
These poems are from the book Palestine Wail. To read the introduction to the book, click below.
