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4.72 AVERAGE
4.72 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
"For us,
the fear of dying before living
haunts us while we are still
in our mothers’ wombs."
😭❤️🩹
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, War
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
These poems were amazing. They brought up so many emotions in me. I especially loved "My Grandfather Was a Terrorist," "Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, and Theodor Adorno in Gaza," and "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear."
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
An amazing collection of poetry telling the heartwrenching truth of the life of the people in Gaza. 100% recommended to anyone wanting an "easy to read" account of the situation in Gaza. I say easy to read in terms of the poems taking away from of the heaviness of reading about these atrocities not that it is easy to read about them all together
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
"The word for poetry in Arabic, sha’ir, doesn’t refer to a particular form, it only has to do with feeling. So you have to be an expert in showing your feelings on paper or reciting your poetry to people so that they can feel what you’re feeling", says Mosab Abu Toha in the interview at the end of this poetry collection. And that is exactly what he does. He takes us back with him to Gaza, so we are feeling his fear, tasting his uncertainty, and watching him wondering what it means to not know whether he is alive or dead.
Two verses from his poem Palestine A-Z give a glimpse of the rest of the collection
"A country that exists only in my mind. Its flag has no room to fly freely, but there is space on the coffins of my countrymen."
"My grandfather kept the key to his house in Yaffa in 1948. He thought they would return in a few days. His name was Hasan. The house was destroyed. Others built a new one in its place. Hasan died in Gaza in 1986. The key has rusted but still exists somewhere, longing for the old wooden door."
The book is overwhelming. But it is impossible to walk away from it.
Two verses from his poem Palestine A-Z give a glimpse of the rest of the collection
"A country that exists only in my mind. Its flag has no room to fly freely, but there is space on the coffins of my countrymen."
"My grandfather kept the key to his house in Yaffa in 1948. He thought they would return in a few days. His name was Hasan. The house was destroyed. Others built a new one in its place. Hasan died in Gaza in 1986. The key has rusted but still exists somewhere, longing for the old wooden door."
The book is overwhelming. But it is impossible to walk away from it.
truly the best poetry collection I have ever read. brought me near to tears.
this collection was published in 2022, before the current (as of 2024) assault on Gaza and Palestine by Israel began. it is heartbreaking how long this has been going on and how relevant this collection still is.
Mosab Abu Toha is genuinely astonishing. I could feel the heartbreak and anger and deep hurt, and I could also see the resilience of the Palestinian people. "A Rose Shoulders Up", the final poem of this collection, is exactly that: a crossroads between loss and rebuilding. I've seen photos of flowers pushing up through the rubble in Gaza since Israel's attacks began. they are stark and haunting and necessary to see. this collection brings those photos, and many more, onto the page.
this collection was published in 2022, before the current (as of 2024) assault on Gaza and Palestine by Israel began. it is heartbreaking how long this has been going on and how relevant this collection still is.
Mosab Abu Toha is genuinely astonishing. I could feel the heartbreak and anger and deep hurt, and I could also see the resilience of the Palestinian people. "A Rose Shoulders Up", the final poem of this collection, is exactly that: a crossroads between loss and rebuilding. I've seen photos of flowers pushing up through the rubble in Gaza since Israel's attacks began. they are stark and haunting and necessary to see. this collection brings those photos, and many more, onto the page.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced