rape | Dana Janine Diamond

by Dana Janine Diamond

I don’t want the Gazans
to suffer
well, perhaps not
the half million adults
who don’t like Hamas
nor the children
for the sake of
whatever childhood
they have
a strip
stripped
filled
to bursting
with human
shields
for pure
evil
such as
the world
has known
before
Before
they deliberately,
personally
murdered our babies
tore apart
their tiny bodies
with bullets and
other cruel weapons
nowhere to hide
the girls ran
but despite the music
the women were raped
Mass Rape
in
the killing fields
next to their friends’
dead bodies
taken hostage
bleeding young
women
children, babies,
dementia-addled elderly
families
boys, men
they sang
all beloved
Holocaust survivor
who didn’t survive
not in the southern border
turned Hamas slaughterhouse
not in Gaza
where Hamas’s victims
were tormented, executed
hostages
all
fodder for tik tok
and now the world waits
with breath, unbreathed
as clock
ticks down
to the consequence
of the endless
history
of hating
the Jews

and they danced
with candy
in their streets
celebrating
their terrorists
salivating
the longed, yearned
for
not peace
nor freedom
rather
the sweet
taste
of
Jewish
blood
Oh, how deliriously
happy
they were
mouths grinning
the metallic flavor
on their tongues
the acrid aroma of rage
at the outrage
that we exist.
naturally, brutality
was a cause
for celebration
who could blame them?
the Palestinians
perpetual, imperpetuity
are victims
it must be true
all the victims of the world
say it must be true
Blame the Jews

Who was Jesus
but the original self-
hating Jew
and the gospels
joined the choir
Who was Mohammed
who simultaneously killed
Jews
while befriending them
deriding them
even the little children
delighted with glee
throwing stones at Jews
true history
too many sorrows
to recount
we were burned alive
driven from every land
and
yet
and
yet
we survived
leaving everything
we loved
behind
we wandered and wandered
and wandered and wandered
too many times to count
and wondered
why the world
lacks
the utter
courage
to not blame
and hate
even secretly so
even hidden
from themselves
(because they can’t
face
themselves)
minuscule
us

Oh, cry
for the Palestinians
their humanity
is in agony
abandoned
by their brothers
and sisters
fifty Muslim countries
said no
we don’t want
you
stay put, don’t leave
don’t come
our doors are closed
your terrorists might get in
heaven forbid
let Israel take it all…
and to their disappointment
they discovered
too late
that even
the virgins in heaven
didn’t want them
all that hate
for naught

So, world,
so-called friend
and outright foe
you rally
we are singing
mourning
through the night
throughout
the morning
we grieve
unabatedly
perhaps, maybe,
conceivably
some of you
will cry
with us
open
your lips
to pray
out loud
with us
it’s possible
a Jewish woman
can dream
and nevertheless
we regather
for now,
ultimately
revive our dead

By Dana Janine Diamond c 2016

I feel crushed
by the world
breaking apart
as if we were all
just still
icebergs
becoming sea ice
facing the inevitable
the deep, groaning, unworldly
sound
of energy
loudly
releasing

It is pain and fear and poverty
and isolation
a resounding
refusal
of poetry and connection

Where should we go
to navigate these treacherous
waters
where do we escape
the crashing hate that surrounds
can I trust my neighbor
can I trust myself

I feel devastated
and frightened
that no country feels
safe
I’ve known
what it feels
like to be

assaulted
beaten
abused
betrayed
terrorized
violated
had a gun
to my head
and on the run

and now we
are living in a climate change
where a man who was once
a joke
in oversized frozen neon gold
is now immortalized
makes hatred and violence
seem like a bold
choice
again

I feel pummeled
a bit more destroyed
every day
by the shooters
the brocks and bombers
and their families
who grew the hate
in their hearts
the way most
grow tomatoes, cucumbers
and daffodils

I’m not sure
intellect alone
can rescue us
the answer to more
hard cruelty
is softness
the reaction to more
misogyny
is emotion
the rationale response
to the tyranny
and twittered litany
of abuse
is tears

I’ve tried being tough
and smart
and capable
and kind
and invincible
and now
I’m just tired

I feel worn down
by the world
and the only way
to move this mountain
is to cry

all the sorrow
I’ve hidden away

I don’t know
what you all
do with your pain
mine needs to see
the light of day
float out
to open sea

so that hope
never leaves

Dana Janine Diamond

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