By Basman Derawi
I am Still Singing
I stand at my window.
The weather is cold
But I still stand,
Watching the empty streets
Running from the death demons
Whispering in my ears.
I am singing to god,
“Walk me home in the dead of
Night. I can’t be alone with all that’s
In my mind. Say you’ll stay with me
Tonight, cause there’s so much wrong
Going on outside.”
I stop counting,
But the news pop in my face,
The rate of positive cases rapidly increase,
The number of people died,
Yet the time walks slowly over my skin
Like a turtle walks on an old muddy road.
I still singing,
Try to keep my own voice in my ears,
Yet I hear the crying of the empty streets
the whispers of death demons getting louder,
“We are coming to eat you”
I am still standing,
Singing to god,
Singing louder and louder
To keep my own voice in my ears.
From London to Gaza
From London to Gaza,
A new form of Covid appears
With a new weapon in its hands
With sharper edges
More killing blades
From London to Gaza,
We pray that the virus
Falls at the world’s feet
Not to eat the rest of
its heart
And leave its lung
Breathlessness.
From London to Gaza,
We sit on balconies
Still sing songs
For our bleeding humanity
That we are still here
That we should stand
Basman Derawi is Palestinian poet and writer. He lives in Gaza. He is a physiotherapist for the Ministry of Health in Gaza. He also writes for https://wearenotnumbers.org/ and as a columnist for https://vivamost.com/
Love this!
Thank you, Cheryl! I appreciate it.
Loved your poem, Basman. Please keep singing and stay safe, Miriam Ben-Yoseph
Thank you, Miriam! I loved your poem too.
I like this Basman. Some lines I wish I’d written!
Thank you!