Where time stood still
One year after Operation Cast Led

by Samah Sabawi

Don’t tell us a year has passed…

We don’t measure our lives by this calendar

Time has stood still for us so long ago

Punctuated only by loss and grie

And the in between moments of quite reprieve

We don’t count on Christmas, nor Eid for cheer

We don’t fool ourselves with “happy new year”

No occasion is ever taken for granted,

When it comes to tomorrow,

There are no certainties

Our yesterday is our today

Time is frozen here

And one calendar year

Will never contain our lives,

Our collective misery,

Our yearning for humanity

Don’t tell us a year has passed

Our clock stopped ticking when justice collapsed

Eclipsed by decades of repression

Hush… don’t speak of time

We have endured the absence of time

We don’t measure our lives by days like you

We measure our lives by the number of embraces

Our worth by a lover’s heartbeat

Our existence by our persistence

So, don’t tell us a year has passed….

URL of this article on Tlaxcala: http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=9646&lg=en
Source: the authorOriginal article published on Dec. 30, 2009About the author: Samah Sabawi is a writer/playwright and poet who advocates for Human Rights and Social Justice. She was born in Gaza and is currently residing in Melbourne Australia.
Ms. Sabawi was former Executive Director of the National Council on Canada-Arab relations (NCCAR) and has been on the board of directors of NCCAR as well as the Canadian Palestinian Congress.
She has written and produced two plays: Cries from the Land and Three Wishes, both dealing with the plight of the Palestinian people. Her opeds and poetry are published in both print and electronic media.Tlaxcala is the international network of translators for linguistic diversity. This poem may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered, and the source and author are cited.