As I close my eyes
Avoiding the darkness of the black smoke surrounding me
I envision a place
Where children laugh and play
Parents watch and smile
All eyes are glistening with happiness
The sparkling sun rests in the clear blue sky shining upon them
Everyone is at ease
Peace is existent
And tolerance is spread
Throughout my beloved homeland
Nature is beautiful and rich
The world is a place of comfort and safety
But once I open my eyes
I realize that tear gas is blinding me
I am struggling under the rubble
I am deaf from the constant booms that shake the earth
Children bleed and cry
Parents plead and pray
Everyone is dying, panicking
Violence erupted
Hatred has invaded
Throughout my beloved, occupied homeland
Everything burns
Every bit of nature is now dead like the death of innocent people
I realize hopelessly that the world has been broken down
Everyone is in their own world
Palestinians are in a world that has been taken and slaughtered
But we are just a piece of the world
The other worlds are heedless of our collapsing one
But I am a Palestinian
And I will recreate this world as I envisioned it when I closed my eyes
We will rise! We will rise!
With black, red, green, and white in our eyes