Enough Time for a Ritual

Appeared in The Palestine Chronicle, May 23, 2022.

Enough Time for a Ritual

By Khalil Sima'an

The day will come

when we may mourn our dead

and carry her casket 

in a proud procession

along the bowing palms

and the cooing pigeons.

And no one will stand 

in the way of the dead.

No one will whip 

the casket nor the dead.

No one will hinder

the nightly rituals

of the dead.

Gently, she may wash 

the colours of life

for the last time

and comb out her hair

for the last time,

and when she’s prepared

she’ll wear her nightly gown

and lay her fractured head

on an earthly cushion.

And in her mind, she’ll review

her final day and weep,

review her calendar and weep

review her people’s faces

and weep, for she is allowed

enough time to weep.

And eventually

when she has consumed 

the last drops of love

she’ll finally fall

asleep, for the last time.

• In honour of the celebrated journalist Shereen Abu-Akleh, who was killed by the Israeli army in May 2022, and the mourners who were attacked by the Israeli police while carrying her coffin.