“A new study of children living through the war in Gaza has found that 96% of them feel that their death is imminent and almost half want to die as a result of the trauma they have been through.” —The Guardian, December 11, 2024
of course I’m sure this war will
kill me please wipe the slate clean
this lifetime was an error a mistake our home
our village pounded to rubble our next
home rubble too father shot dead mother
sister brothers all gone don’t know
if they’re alive or dead just me out here
alone in the rubble not a scratch
on me why have I been spared
I beg Allah if he even exists
to take me to Paradise
can’t I please just
get this over with
Kay White Drew is a retired physician whose poems appear in Bay to Ocean Journal, Pen in Hand, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, Gargoyle, and New Verse News. She’s also published short stories and several essays, one of which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and a memoir, Stress Test. She lives in Rockville, MD with her husband.
