Poetry for 100 Days of War
Poetry by Amal El-Sayed, B.A. Van Sise, Aurore Sibley, Francisco Castro Vedela, Shehrbano Naqvi, David Adés, Noa Silver, and more.
Dear Readers,
In the past 100 days, grief has struck new orders of magnitude and its intensity has multiplied at every turn. The horrendous Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th saw 1,200 people of all ages killed, the majority of them civilians, and brutal widespread sexual violence against Jewish women. 136 hostages are still held in Hamas captivity, their condition unknown. In Gaza, war has rained down by way of Israel's catastrophic bombing campaign, which has killed over 24,000 people (including over 74 journalists and at least 13 poets and writers), and, within that toll, over 10,000 children, a colossal loss to humanity. Right now, a deadly humanitarian disaster of unprecedented scale is taking place in Gaza, where 2.2 million people, of which roughly half are children, are subject to starvation and disease due to Israel’s relentless blockade of basic resources including adequate medicinal care, water, nutrition and electricity, and often without shelter, all in the midst of the unimaginable violence of this war.
It is in this context of acute crisis that our journal returns to its work, to publishing, to poetry - after a meaningful and contemplative hiatus, of which there are more updates to come in future letters.
In November, the Othering & Belonging Institute wrote:
“A feature of othering is drawing lines between those whose deaths are grievable, and those unworthy of our grief and concern. Even in the depth of our anguish, when love propels our tears and rage, we must not succumb to the drive to draw this line. Especially now, when dehumanization is widespread in governments, on the internet, in the news, in our communities and in our bodies. All of us must vehemently reject it in all its forms and embrace the value and worth of all people. Our very survival depends on it.”
As we reviewed poetry from the recent open call, our small editorial room felt the tension in holding the diverse responses of anguish, outrage, confusion and mourning generated by this crisis, while moving through our own deep hurt. I share endless gratitude to the skilled, indefatigable and empathetic editorial team at Poets Reading the News, specifically Kashiana Singh, Michel Krug and Nikki Ikani, who have each done much to co-lead this journal since October. Above all, our gratitude goes to the poetry contributors who shared poems with our newsroom.
My hope for this poetry is that it will widen the bridges of compassion in those who read it, especially toward whosoever is beyond your heart's present reach. We are navigating a conflict that actively promotes othering and dehumanization, against Muslims and Jews, against Palestinians, Israelis and Arabs. Anti-semitism and Islamophobia are exploding across the globe. It is at this juncture that we need more than ever to affirm the humanity of all the innocents who are caught up in this war, lest we perpetuate the exact cycles of othering that make this war possible.
As David Adés writes below, "A dead child is not concerned with moral equivalence, / with retribution, with whether one child’s death / can ever be more just than another."
In this issue of poetry on the conflict, poets bear the unbearable. Amal El-Sayed writes for the thousands buried in rubble in Gaza, and what they've left behind. B.A. Van Sise ventures into a scene of the shocking violence of the kibbutzim attacks on October 7. Aurore Sibley pens a eulogy for Shani Louk, a young woman at the Nova Festival who was abducted, assaulted and murdered by Hamas. Francisco Castro Vedela writes a poem for Laila Saeed Atta Abu Safra, a 3-year-old girl killed by Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza. Shehrbano Naqvi shares a haibun potrait of a Gazan family during war. David Adés pens a reflection on this war against children. Martha Highers writes to Bibi, and the history behind U.S. military aid. Mary McColley reports from the West Bank, where occupation intensifies and death tolls climb. Devorah Levy-Perlman investigates the complexity of newly-unfurled Israeli roots, and who they uproot. Noa Silver explores what it means to seek the end of a bottomless war. And Christine Deaker offers a vision of peace.
Poets Reading the News editors join together in condemning the horrendous violence of Hamas’ brutal October 7th attack and the devastating, indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Gaza by Israel, and call for a peaceful path. Lives are being lost at every moment. Without a cessation in this violence, the world cannot dream of, let alone move toward, a shared peace that prioritizes safety for everyone. We urgently call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in order to facilitate the immediate release of all hostages and the deliverance of aid and return of services to the millions of Gazans living in mortal danger.
With our continued commitment through poetry, we join you in mourning, in outrage and in a relentless hope for peace,
Elle Aviv Newton
Poets Reading the News
Beneath the Rubble
By Amal El-Sayed. A plea, a prayer, a scream for the thousands buried in rubble by Israel's airstrikes on Gaza. Read more…
Kfar Aza
By B.A. Van Sise. On October 7, a kibbutz experienced violence at the brutal edge of human imagination. Read more…
A Dead Child is a Dead Child
By David Adés. The Israel-Hamas conflict is a war on children. Read more…
Laila
By Francisco Vela Castro. Poetry holds the body of Laila Saeed Atta Abu Safra, a 3-year-old killed by bombs in Gaza. Read more…
And That I Should Witness Such Beauty
By Aurore Sibley. For Shani Louk, the 23-year-old woman abducted from the Nova Music Festival and killed by Hamas on October 7. Read more…
The Same Sky Stretches Above All of Our Heads
By Shehrbano Naqvi. A portrait of a family in Gaza. Read more…
Decomposition
By Mary McColley. A poet in the West Bank reports on land held in the grip of devastating occupation. Read more…
Trail of Tears at 120 MPH
By Martha Highers. We’re breaking the speed limits to get there. Read more…
Planting Trees
By Devorah Levy-Pearlman. “I look out at a stampede of pines over the rubble of uprooted olive trees.” Read more…
To My Children
By Noa Silver. “"Each evening, now, I stay awake trying to understand the whole of human history.” Read more…
The Bread of Peace
By Christine Deakers. “War is born in the binary. Humanity is the bread of peace.” Read more…
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