ROUH (ARABIC FOR SOUL)

by Jane Edna Mohler

A premature Palestinian baby, who was saved from her mother’s womb after she was killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip, has died after days in an incubator. Sabreen al-Rouh Jouda died in a Gaza hospital on Thursday after her health deteriorated and medical teams were unable to save her, said her uncle, Rami al-Sheikh Jouda. [Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters via Al Jazeera, April 26, 2024

You were red and blind as a just-hatched robin

when they cut you from your silent mother.

 

On the news, your curled form was cradled

by a doctor who needed you to live

 

even more than me. I hope

your nakedness didn’t shame you.

 

It made me love you.

 

They named you Sabreen al-Rouh, prescient,

as you had too much soul for the three pounds

 

your mother had time to give you.

Her name was Sabreen al-Sakani.

 

They call her a martyr.

You call her Mama.

 

At five days old you still knew the cadence

of her heartbeat. You flew to her

 

while your body rests under the mud of sorrow

that tears have made of Gaza’s dust.

 

 

Jane Edna Mohler is a Bucks County Poet Laureate Emeritus (Pennsylvania). Recent publications include Gargoyle, Gyroscope, and One Art. Her collection Broken Umbrellas was published by Kelsay Books. She is the Poetry Editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal in Philadelphia.

DRILL

by Jane Edna Mohler   

  

In the confident glow
of an iPhone, we pass
a silent hour in the school’s
utility room with dead
beetles, frantic
spiders, and the librarian
browsing Pinterest.
 
My back against
a door that won’t lock,
foot braced on the railing
of stairs leading to oblivious 
motors and sweating pipes 
accustomed to the peace 
of working alone.
 
The librarian scrolls fervently. 
Which chicken recipe 
will she choose? Maybe 
Easter themed cupcakes
or a floral wreath crafted
for the family gathering 
if those gunshots we hear are real. 

From National Association of School Psychologists: “After an armed assailant drill: Emotional or physical reactions can be delayed following a highly intense simulation drill.”

Jane Edna Mohler is Bucks County Poet Laureate Emeritus (Pennsylvania). Recent publications include Gargoyle, River Heron Review, and One Art. Her collection Broken Umbrellas was published by Kelsay Books. She is the Poetry Editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal in Philadelphia.