ars poetica in which every pronoun is a Free Palestine by George Abraham
ars poetica in which every pronoun is a Free Palestine
George Abraham& so it is written: the settlers will steal God’s land & FREE PALESTINE
will curse the settlers with an inability to season FREE PALESTINE’s food,a sunburn the shape of the settler dictator’s face on everyone who will claim
FREE PALESTINE’s earth but not FREE PALESTINE’s skinsoil-stained. there. FREE PALESTINE said it. no one really owns anything FREE
PALESTINE didn’t unwrite to make it so—FREE PALESTINE’s seaisraeli; FREE PALESTINE’s sky israeli but not FREE PALESTINE’s thunder—
the blame will always be FREE PALESTINE’s & so this will be called an accuratehistory; the expense of FREE PALESTINE’s visibility, willed in bloodied cloth—
or paper—FREE PALESTINE’s longest suicide: FREE PALESTINE will diein jail & become israeli—FREE PALESTINE will die in protest & become
kite on fire—FREE PALESTINE will call Hamas fable of everyHEADLINE: israeli falafel so dry FREE PALESTINE could start an intifada with it
HEADLINE: israeli falafel so dry FREE PALESTINE could free Palestine with itno, FREE PALESTINE will never give FREE PALESTINE’s self a name
not rooted in upheaval—FREE PALESTINE, hyphenated by settler flag:FREE PALESTINE hyphenated by settler pronouns: FREE PALESTINE will not
pledge allegiance to Arabic. or english. FREE PALESTINE will existin no language; FREE PALESTINE will write poems of olive tree & checkpoint
with no free Palestine to be found; FREE PALESTINE will name the violence& never the resurrection, like FREE PALESTINE hasn’t survived impossible
histories to get here. It is written: the blood will be on FREE PALESTINE’shands—might as well paint FREE PALESTINE’s nails while FREE PALESTINE’s
at it—what? is this not what FREE PALESTINE expected? did FREEPALESTINE not think FREE PALESTINE would have the last laugh all along?
MARGINALIA
1.
There are poems that do not ask to be understood. Only witnessed. Only held without turning away. This is one of them. I read it and feel my breath get sharp.
2.
There’s a violence in language I’ve always felt but could never name. The way grammar can erase, can divide, can claim. The way a pronoun can be a wound. Or a country. Or a cry that will not be translated.
3.
Are we not allowed to speak of survival unless it ends in peace? Look at all of us bleeding.
4.
When the world moves on, when freedom becomes a headline becomes a slur becomes a mouthful of blood—
5.
If I’ve learned anything from poetry, it’s that naming is resistance. Naming is memory. Naming is survival.
6.
Say the name. Say it again. Say it until it becomes unbearable. Say it until it becomes real.
7.
I don’t know what to do with the fire but carry it. Free Palestine.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in Mizna, The Palestine Issue, Volume 19.2, 2018.
DESCRIPTION
“Marking seventy years of displacement and occupation in Palestine, Mizna presents The Palestine Issue, centering the Palestinian struggle for liberation and the rich literature it has spurred, guest edited by playwright and poet Ismail Khalidi. Acclaimed authors engage with seven decades of resilience and creativity in the face of catastrophe, sharing work that combats erasure by remembering, as well as by imagining possible (and impossible) futures.” (Source)
ABOUT GEORGE ABRAHAM
George Abraham (they/هو) is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the executive editor of Mizna, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025). They are a graduate of Northwestern’s Litowitz MFA+MA program, and teach… (more)
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