Four Palestinian Boys Killed Playing Football & My Father Buys New Cleats
Fifteen feet of toe grazing heel from one rock to the next
measure the width of today’s goal forgotten about
when the water pipe erupts into Zamzam’s well arching
calendulas to kiss an enclave of dirt on all sides
dampening the coming breath graft tongue to hole
gashed rib to lesions more tender than forgiveness
they can take some punishment drunk uncles
& martyrs plastered on neighborhood walls
knees grounded finding home in the same direction
a flame cracks the sound of taking from the outside
going in for to feel the warmth in a rift of wood
can make a house fire carve out an ending
of children taught to draw birds instead of guns apples
picked in mouthful pockmarks flung thread-thin
the weight they move through replaces the air holding you
Nadim Choufi is an Arab-Lebanese poet and a regular contributor to Middle Eastern zines. His poetry has appeared in Sula Collective, Jaffat El Aqlam, and elsewhere.