{"id":251451,"date":"2024-01-01T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=251451"},"modified":"2023-12-28T05:36:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T05:36:20","slug":"when-i-grow-older-a-gaza-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/01\/when-i-grow-older-a-gaza-poem\/","title":{"rendered":"When I Grow Older \u2013 A Gaza Poem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

(Image: Palestine Chronicle)<\/p><\/div>\n

25 Dec 2023 – To Gaza\u2019s little angels \u2013 in heaven, and here on earth. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My name is Omar. I am 5.
\nToday I washed the blood of my father off the sidewalk.
\nHe was shot in front of our home.
\nMy mom said I did a good job.
\nShe hugged me and cried for far too long.
\nHer tears were salty like the Gaza Sea.
\nMy brother and sister are still missing under the rubble.
\nMy mom keeps telling me to place my ear on the blocks of shattered concrete and listen carefully.
\nMaybe they are still alive.
\nMaybe they need company.
\nShe sings them lullabies to go to sleep.
\nI always sing along.<\/p>\n

It has been many days since they were gone.
\nI didn\u2019t die because I stood in a long line to fetch some water.
\nThere was none.
\nBut mom said \u2018Alhamdulilah\u2019 that I am still alive.
\nShe called me a miracle.
\nShe said I am all that she has left.<\/p>\n

I told her that someday we would get a big bulldozer, would save my brother and sister, and rebuild the house.
\n.. And grow a garden, with trees so big they\u2019ll reach the heavens.
\nBut tonight, we will sleep in a tent.
\nI keep dreaming of three angels.
\nThey hover around me and sing me songs.
\nI jump and dance, but only in my sleep.
\nWhen I grow older, I will protect my mother from the angry men with guns.
\nWhen I grow older, I will have a son and give him my father\u2019s name.
\nWhen I grow older, I will remove the big rocks smothering my brother and my sister.
\nWhen I grow older, I will never forget.
\nI will never forget.<\/p>\n

I will never forget.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of <\/em>Palestine Chronicle. He has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. Baroud is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. His books include <\/em>Searching Jenin, <\/em>The Second Palestinian Intifada, and <\/em>My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza\u2019s Untold Story. His latest book is <\/em>The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Pluto Press, London, 2018). His website is <\/em>www.ramzybaroud.net<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ramzybaroud.net<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Join the<\/span> <\/i><\/b>BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS campaign<\/span><\/i><\/b> to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/span><\/b> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/span><\/b> BARCODE STARTS WITH<\/span><\/b> 729<\/span><\/b>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel. DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 Dec 2023 – To Gaza\u2019s little angels \u2013 in heaven, and here on earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":115817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[554,87,2418,868,1804],"class_list":["post-251451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-children","tag-gaza","tag-palestinian-rights","tag-poetry","tag-ramzy-baroud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251454,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251451\/revisions\/251454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}