Sidal Abu Jamea

In the photo a nurse writes
on the body of Sidal,
writing the name of the voice that was
stopped.
The voice of a girl from Khan Younis
who died while sleeping in a tent
when shrapnel struck her head.
Sidal, there you were in dreams,
and then, you weren’t there.
Were there bombs in your dreams?
Maybe, you were dreaming of peace.
Sidal, your dreams, stopped,
your voice, missing from the world.

Today a law in Afghanistan
banning women’s voices.

In the dark before the dawn,
I listen for the voices that are
stopped.
In the voice of the rain,
unrelenting in its giving to the earth,
I listen for the voices that are
stopped. I listen.
In the gentleness of rain I strain to hear Sidal,
her young voice singing.
In the power of the rain, I listen
for the women’s voices.
For what it is that they beseech
from those of us who still can speak.

©Susa Silvermarie 2024