Saturday, December 09, 2023

THEY ARE NOT NUMBERS, THEY ARE…

by Adrian Ernesto Cepeda


The Palestinian poet, writer, literature professor, and activist Dr. Refaat Alareer was killed today in a targeted Israeli airstrike that also killed his brother, his sister, and four of her children. He is survived by his wife, Nusayba, and their children. Dr. Alareer was a beloved professor of literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught since 2007. Dr. Alareer was also one of the founders of We Are Not Numbers, a nonprofit organization launched in Gaza after Israel’s 2014 attack and dedicated to creating “a new generation of Palestinian writers and thinkers who can bring together a profound change to the Palestinian cause.” —Literary Hub, December 7, 2023


Human beings, witnessing 

Gaza children in open 

 

grave sites wrapped 

in blue body bags

 

wading towards 

the afterlife, they are 

 

human beings, not 

numbers, so many 

 

murdered 


by too many

explosions, bombs, missiles 

 

aiming more than war

heads, occupied brutality 


ignores Children unarmed, head

lines bury #Gazaholocaust

 

although you can not

see the waves of these

 

limbs wrapped in blue,

the tears from their families,

 

from neighbors, flow from 

across the globe, they are 

 

not numbers, nor war casualties, 

they are human beings 

 

wrapped in genocide 

rubble of destruction, no 

 

more detonations,

we demand 

 

Palestine free

Too many numbers, 

 

no more human 

beings overflowing

 

death 


from this 

grave devastation.



Editor’s note: This poem, inspired by "They are not numbers, They are human beings," a December 4 X/tweet by @malwikadevi, was submitted to us a day before the death of Refaat Alareer, a founder of We Are Not Numbers.



Adrian Ernesto Cepeda is the author of Flashes & Verses… Becoming Attractions from Unsolicited Press, Between the Spine from Picture Show Press, Speaking con su Sombra with Alegría Publishing, La Belle Ajar & We Are the Ones Possessed from CLASH Books and his 6th poetry collection La Lengua Inside Me with FlowerSong PressAdrian lives with his wife in Los Angeles with their adorably spoiled cat Woody Gold.