Enough Time for a Ritual

Appeared in The Palestine Chronicle, May 23, 2022.

Enough Time for a Ritual 


The day will come

when we may mourn our dead

and carry her casket 

in a proud procession

wafting like a light cloud

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 will wash 

the colours of life 

from her face

for the last time,

and sooth her body 

with balm 

for the last time,

and comb out her hair

for the last time.


And only when fully prepared, 

she will wear her nightly coffin

and lay her fractured head

on an earthly cushion.


And in her mind, she will review 

the events of her final day

and weep,

review her busy calendar

and weep,

review the faces of her people

and weep, for she has ample time

to weep.


And eventually

when she has consumed 

the last drops of life

she will finally

fall asleep,

for the last time.