What a Gazan should do during an Israeli air strike
JVL Introduction
This poem was written earlier this year by Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian poet from Gaza.
His first book of poems, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, was published in April 2022 by City Lights.
It was the winner of the American Book Award, the Palestine Book Award and Arrowsmith Press’s 2023 Derek Walcott Poetry Prize.
More details follow the poem below.
RK
This article was originally published by New York Review of Books on Thu 11 May 2023. Read the original here.
What a Gazan should do during an Israeli air strike
Turn off the lights in every room
sit in the inner hallway of the house
away from the windows
stay away from the stove
stop thinking about making black tea
have a bottle of water nearby
big enough to cool down
children’s fear
get a child’s kindergarten backpack and stuff
tiny toys and whatever amount of money there is
and the ID cards
and photos of late grandparents, aunts, or uncles
and the grandparents’ wedding invitation that’s been kept for a long time
and if you are a farmer, you should put some strawberry seeds
in one pocket
and some soil from
the balcony flowerpot in the other
and hold on tight
to whatever number there was
on the cake
from the last birthday.
Here is how the NYB version is punctuated:
Turn off the lights in every room / sit in the inner hallway of the house / away from the windows / stay away from the stove / stop thinking about making black tea / have a bottle of water nearby / big enough to cool down / children’s fear / get a child’s kindergarten backpack and stuff / tiny toys and whatever amount of money there is / and the ID cards / and photos of late grandparents, aunts, or uncles / and the grandparents’ wedding invitation that’s been kept for a long time / and if you are a farmer, you should put some strawberry seeds / in one pocket / and some soil from / the balcony flowerpot in the other / and hold on tight / to whatever number there was / on the cake / from the last birthday.
From the publisher’s web page
In this poetry debut Mosab Abu Toha writes about his life under siege in Gaza, first as a child, and then as a young father. A survivor of four brutal military attacks, he bears witness to a grinding cycle of destruction and assault, and yet, his poetry is inspired by a profound humanity.
These poems emerge directly from the experience of growing up and living in constant lockdown, and often under direct attack. Like Gaza itself, they are filled with rubble and the ever-present menace of surveillance drones policing a people unwelcome in their own land, and they are also suffused with the smell of tea, roses in bloom, and the view of the sea at sunset. Children are born, families continue traditions, students attend university, and libraries rise from the ruins as Palestinians go on about their lives, creating beauty and finding new ways to survive.
Accompanied by an in-depth interview (conducted by Ammiel Alcalay) in which Abu Toha discusses life in Gaza, his family origins, and how he came to poetry.
Praise for Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear:
“Mosab Abu Toha is an astonishingly gifted young poet from Gaza, almost a seer with his eloquent lyrical vernacular … His poems break my heart and awaken it, at the same time. I feel I have been waiting for his work all my life.”–Naomi Shihab Nye
“Though forged in the bleak landscape of Gaza, he conjures a radiance that echoes Milosz and Kabir. These poems are like flowers that grow out of bomb craters and Mosab Abu Toha is an astonishing talent to celebrate.”–Mary Karr
“Mosab Abu Toha’s Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear arrives with such refreshing clarity and voice amidst a sea of immobilizing self-consciousness. It is no great feat to say a complicated thing in a complicated way, but here is a poet who says it plain: ‘In Gaza, some of us cannot completely die.’ Later, ‘This is how we survived.’ It’s remarkable. This is poetry of the highest order.”–Kaveh Akbar
AN APPEAL INTO THE ETHER
Mosab Abu Toha, the Palestinian poet
Has been detained and disappeared by Israelis
While he was travelling south towards the border
After leaving Gaza City. I know a couple
Of his poems. The one about his grandfather
Who has become lost within the Nakba
And another, of things hidden inside his ear
Which is the title of a collection
I heard him read to an audience in January
Of this year. Poems from that collection
And newer pieces. What a mother does
During a night-time airstrike. I was the ninth
Person to like the reading. All you have to do
Is click on an icon. Now there are twelve of us
No dislikes
Why not join us?
Mosab Abu Toha, the Palestinian poet
Who has been detained and disappeared
The others arrested at the Israeli checkpoint
Are anonymous, but no less relevant to his poetry
Is this true? That this gifted young poet has been snatched by Israeli forces and no one knows where he is? What crime has he committed? Is poetry a crime? PEN needs to take up his case urgently.