By Samah Sabawi Don't tell us a year has passed… We don't measure our lives by this calendar Time has stood still for us so long ago Punctuated only by loss and grief And the in between moments of quite reprieve We don’t count on Christmas, nor Eid for cheer We don’t fool ourselves with “happy new year” No occasion is ever taken for granted, When it comes to tomorrow, there are no certainties Our yesterday is our today Time is frozen here And one calendar year Will never contain our lives, Our collective misery, Our yearning for humanity Don’t tell us a year has passed Our clock stopped ticking when justice collapsed Eclipsed by decades of repression Hush… don’t speak of time We have endured the absence of time We don’t measure our lives by days like you We measure our lives by the number of embraces Our worth by a lover’s heartbeat Our existence by our persistence So, don’t tell us a year has passed…. - Samah Sabawi is a writer playwright and poet. She was born in Gaza and is currently residing in Melbourne Australia. She contributed this poem to PalestineChronicle.com. |
