INTIFADA

the land of Palestine shook

until the very stones loosened

and were gathered up by you

as other children, innocent, have picked flowers

your rocks blossomed blood-red

against a conspiracy of years

of having your every breath, heartbeat observed constrained

until you could not breath, every gasp a battle

the way you suffocate under a veil

of teargas, chambers of death

your own homes, streets, gardens

you said you have had enough

and started an earthquake

drawing down a shower of hailstones

against a sinful nation

the occupation officers have hit a stone, been struck

by the steadfast hardness

of a people willing

to die on their feet

rather than live on their knees

you love your lives enough

to struggle

against the constraints

bound, as you have been

all your lives

you are loosening the bonds now

casting off what has kept you down

you are bound for glory

shaking, shaking until you are free