What a Gazan should do during an Israeli air strike
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
This poem was written earlier this year by Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian poet from Gaza.
His first book of poems, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, was published in April 2022 by City Lights.
It was the winner of the American Book Award, the Palestine Book Award and Arrowsmith Press’s 2023 Derek Walcott Poetry Prize.
More details follow the poem below.
RK
This article was originally published by New York Review of Books on Thu 11 May 2023. Read the original here.
What a Gazan should do during an Israeli air strike
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AN APPEAL INTO THE ETHER
Mosab Abu Toha, the Palestinian poet
Has been detained and disappeared by Israelis
While he was travelling south towards the border
After leaving Gaza City. I know a couple
Of his poems. The one about his grandfather
Who has become lost within the Nakba
And another, of things hidden inside his ear
Which is the title of a collection
I heard him read to an audience in January
Of this year. Poems from that collection
And newer pieces. What a mother does
During a night-time airstrike. I was the ninth
Person to like the reading. All you have to do
Is click on an icon. Now there are twelve of us
No dislikes
Why not join us?
Mosab Abu Toha, the Palestinian poet
Who has been detained and disappeared
The others arrested at the Israeli checkpoint
Are anonymous, but no less relevant to his poetry
Is this true? That this gifted young poet has been snatched by Israeli forces and no one knows where he is? What crime has he committed? Is poetry a crime? PEN needs to take up his case urgently.