Fifty minutes to sunset

they appear  down the hill onto his land. Sticks    metal pipes    M16

no faces    just eyes intent    piercing the air. He held onto his hoe

the sheep scurry away his feet planted  his land  like an olive tree

he is no sheep someone’s phone documents the late afternoon

in South Hebron hills and the terror paints the story the colors

        red river    generations-old

        hot      sun-bleached grass trampled

         .        a distant bleat

his arms broken      no longer holding the hoe    blood on someone’s face

the ambulance parks    land uneven    tires slashed  no help     iphones

document dimming lights       men writing another chapter the era of

pogroms   not Ukraine    Hafez Hureini, 52, from the village of At-Tuwani

in South Hebron hills,    in detention    the rules     his attackers are free

           broken arms    resting on lap

          Hafez  between guards    judge  courtroom

          dimming hopes orphaned sheep

972mag.com/settler-violence-hafez-hureini/

middleeastmonitor.com/20220921-west-bank-israeli-settlers-form-militia-in-occupied-palestine/

“organized terror”          the minister calls it and remains

on the sidelines watching land games in an amphitheater

         sun-bleached grass    hardened land

        bleats        baby cries       distant and fading

        I cry

About the Poem

The poem describes an event that happened a few days ago in the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank-Israel/Palestine. It describes a common injustice that happens in the occupied territory.

About the Author

Michal Rubin is an Israeli living in Columbia, SC. A psychotherapist, a Cantor and a emerging bilingual poet, her poetry and hybrid works appeared in Psychotic Education, The Art and Science of Psychotherapy (Journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists), Wrath Bearing Tree journal, Rise Up Journal, and Topical Poetry.

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