by Imogen Arate
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| The bombs continue to fall. Cartoon by MATE |
“Israel's New Gaza Operation Should Be Called 'Chariots of Genocide'” —Gideon Levy, Haaretz, May 14, 2025
I am the long night
that deepens into
a velvet gloom
that rambles the curls
of your crooked fingers
as you pull irresistibly near
I am the bind
your phobias birthed
that cracks frail bones
rattling of evasion
I am the deadly silence
strung by the eager
fingers of avoidance
A crystal each missing
word unspoken
A precious stone
each unuttered phrase
I am the irreplaceable
treasures you've smashed
to scatter as dust
while cradling the empty
slogans of freedom
Imogen Arate is an Asian-American poet in search of hope: that humanity will overcome our self-destructive tendencies to work together against the onslaught of the climate crisis. She's also the Executive Director of Poets and Muses, an award-winning multimedia artist platform that has featured diverse contemporary poetic voices from around the globe. She believes that we will only be able to value lives equally when we lend our ears and hearts to the life stories of those we don't readily recognize as our kin and stop requiring the presence of certain socioeconomic trappings to recognize people’s right to a dignified existence.
