If my words can stop this
If my words can stop this
If they can stand in the way
Of a bomb, a drone or a single bullet
If my words can stop this
If they could stand in the way
Of a bomb, a drone or a single bullet
I would lay them at the feet of every child in Gaza
And offer them like prayer
I would recite them over and over and over
Like the Holy Names of God
I would write them endlessly
Until all language breaks
Like daylight
As we count our dead
They ask me for balance
They still ask me for balance
And he used to balance his son on his knees and sing
And now, now he’s lost his legs and his son
How can I balance your silence
Against all the sound of artillery in Gaza?
How can I balance your silence
Against neighborhoods wiped out into smoke?
How can I balance between David and Goliath?
How do I balance between David and Goliath?
You tell me
Sorry, I know we’re not meant to make this comparisons
They make some uncomfortable
So let me just say
We are holding our ground
Don’t you worry about us
We are holding our ground
If my words can stop this
I would scream back this gasoline
Taste in my throat for four weeks now
I would write my spine disfigured
Like maps of Palestine and stand tall
At the top of my lungs scream
Make them stop, make them stop
Please, someone, make them stop
They’re just children playing,
Is the beach forbidden?
Is there any place safe left under your sky
Made of iron? Don’t, don’t stop smiling here
But we are standing our ground
We are standing our ground
If my words could stop this
I would argue circles around
Every Israeli spokesperson
I will tell them, let’s be clear
Your smooth accents can’t make killing children justified
Let’s be clear, we are not collateral
Don’t you dare call us collateral
Let’s be clear
Your polished talking points stick
Inside skin near bone like shrapnel
I shake my head to shake them off
Your word linger meaningless
But we are still standing here
We are holding our ground
If my words could stop this
I would hold them up, like fists pounding
Like hearts pounding in shelters
They asked us to evacuate, and then they bombed us
And he pressed her little head into his chest
She’s alive, she’s alive, I swear, she’s still alive
They had to pry her little body out of his hands
And if I could
I would offer me his daughter
If I could, I would offer him all the words of the world
To take away the pain
But the sky is raining heavy steel everywhere
This is no time for poetry
There’s no space for bodies in hospitals anymore
There’s no water, there’s no electricity
In this darkness
I wish my words could transform to light
To protection
I also wish for some quiet
I wish for some quiet from those who battle
To get to the microphones, and perform their rituals
All your clambering, all your clambering
To get on stage is to speak your rage
Spare us, get out of the limelight
And Let Gaza speak, let Rafah speak, let Jenin speak
Let Jerusalem speak, let Shatila speak
Let Deir Yassin speak
Let everybody on the streets of Gaza speak
For a self today
I will not warn my death in 140 characters for your Twitter
My dead are not your bloody Facebook status
My dead will not be cluttered into an infographic that you share today
And then forget, we are still standing here
We are holding our ground
If my words could stop this
I would create a rhythm
Louder than the speed too familiar
I would learn the lyrics to every freedom song
And write it on every building still standing in Gaza
If my words could stop this
If they could stand in the way
Of a bomb, a drone or a single bullet
I would lay them at the feet of every child in Gaza
I would offer them like prayer
Recite them over, and over, and over
Like the Holy Names of God
I would write them endlessly
Until all language breaks
But words can’t stop this
So I offer you this silence and a poem
And tell you are not to worry
We are holding our ground
We are holding our ground
We are holding our ground
We are holding our ground.
If my words can stop this
If they can stand in the way
Of a bomb, a drone or a single bullet
If my words can stop this
If they could stand in the way
Of a bomb, a drone or a single bullet
I would lay them at the feet of every child in Gaza
And offer them like prayer
I would recite them over and over and over
Like the Holy Names of God
I would write them endlessly
Until all language breaks
Like daylight
As we count our dead
They ask me for balance
They still ask me for balance
And he used to balance his son on his knees and sing
And now, now he’s lost his legs and his son
How can I balance your silence
Against all the sound of artillery in Gaza?
How can I balance your silence
Against neighborhoods wiped out into smoke?
How can I balance between David and Goliath?
How do I balance between David and Goliath?
You tell me
Sorry, I know we’re not meant to make this comparisons
They make some uncomfortable
So let me just say
We are holding our ground
Don’t you worry about us
We are holding our ground
If my words can stop this
I would scream back this gasoline
Taste in my throat for four weeks now
I would write my spine disfigured
Like maps of Palestine and stand tall
At the top of my lungs scream
Make them stop, make them stop
Please, someone, make them stop
They’re just children playing,
Is the beach forbidden?
Is there any place safe left under your sky
Made of iron? Don’t, don’t stop smiling here
But we are standing our ground
We are standing our ground
If my words could stop this
I would argue circles around
Every Israeli spokesperson
I will tell them, let’s be clear
Your smooth accents can’t make killing children justified
Let’s be clear, we are not collateral
Don’t you dare call us collateral
Let’s be clear
Your polished talking points stick
Inside skin near bone like shrapnel
I shake my head to shake them off
Your word linger meaningless
But we are still standing here
We are holding our ground
If my words could stop this
I would hold them up, like fists pounding
Like hearts pounding in shelters
They asked us to evacuate, and then they bombed us
And he pressed her little head into his chest
She’s alive, she’s alive, I swear, she’s still alive
They had to pry her little body out of his hands
And if I could
I would offer me his daughter
If I could, I would offer him all the words of the world
To take away the pain
But the sky is raining heavy steel everywhere
This is no time for poetry
There’s no space for bodies in hospitals anymore
There’s no water, there’s no electricity
In this darkness
I wish my words could transform to light
To protection
I also wish for some quiet
I wish for some quiet from those who battle
To get to the microphones, and perform their rituals
All your clambering, all your clambering
To get on stage is to speak your rage
Spare us, get out of the limelight
And Let Gaza speak, let Rafah speak, let Jenin speak
Let Jerusalem speak, let Shatila speak
Let Deir Yassin speak
Let everybody on the streets of Gaza speak
For a self today
I will not warn my death in 140 characters for your Twitter
My dead are not your bloody Facebook status
My dead will not be cluttered into an infographic that you share today
And then forget, we are still standing here
We are holding our ground
If my words could stop this
I would create a rhythm
Louder than the speed too familiar
I would learn the lyrics to every freedom song
And write it on every building still standing in Gaza
If my words could stop this
If they could stand in the way
Of a bomb, a drone or a single bullet
I would lay them at the feet of every child in Gaza
I would offer them like prayer
Recite them over, and over, and over
Like the Holy Names of God
I would write them endlessly
Until all language breaks
But words can’t stop this
So I offer you this silence and a poem
And tell you are not to worry
We are holding our ground
We are holding our ground
We are holding our ground
We are holding our ground.
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