A review by hereforthefunofit
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha

challenging reflective tense

3.5

I was impressed some poems, but for most, I was underwhelmed. The entire poetry style isn't what I've found I like to read. What you can learn, however, from this collection is invaluable.

Standout Poems (for me):
  • Leaving Childhood Behind
  • Sobbing Without Sound
  • A Litany for "One Land"
  • Us and Them
  • Silence of Water
  • Gone with the Gunpowder
  • Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, and Theodor Adorno in Gaza
  • To My Visa Interviewer
Standout Quotes (for me):
  • "In Gaza you don't know what you're guilty of."
  • "My son's name is Yazzan. He was born in 2015, or a year after the 2014 war. This is how we date things."
  • "In August 2014 after the 51 days of Israeli onslaught, the walls in my room had more windows than when I left, windows that would no longer close. Winter was harsh on us."
  • "...trying to survive another day, is coming back from the dead"
  • "It's been noisy for a long time and I've been looking for a recording of silence to play on my old headphones."

It is simply heartbreaking. And regardless of what I think of the application of different poetry techniques, Mosab Abu Toha does an excellent job of portraying the reality of Palestinians. It is soul-crushing and humbling, how much more vulnerable life is in a country many refuse to acknowledge. 
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