Rafah, Gaza Strip

By Clara Blair

Bulldozers rumble
Like the pounding heart
Of a struggling soldier
Or a frightened child.

Trees scream, too,
As their limbs are broken
And their roots are torn
From their home in the earth.

The olives and oranges
Cry out for their lost fruit,
As the mothers and fathers
Bury their children.

© 2004 Clara Blair