Olives plucked too soon

the stolen innocence of Gaza's children

The sun a silent witness

As it sets on Haifa's haunted hills

No light finds its way to Gaza’s shores

Their young eyes have seen too much

What solace can an olive branch provide?

To paradise crucified

Pistachios, almonds plucked savagely from the vine

Like human roots

Torn from the warm earth's embrace

Scattered across usurped lands

Every stone overturned

Carries an outrage to be recounted

But no grief could rewind the clock

Though our sorrows bleed without borders

Olives plucked too soon

May yet bloom again

From the scorched, broken earth