Palestinians, Balletic

Palestinians,
Balletic

Massive crowds,




                        of

            Israeli police beat mourners
with batons,
her coffin



            a           military raid
 
 
 
            where her body      rested

 Akleh’s coffin

            almost dropped to the ground.

  
 
 
                        crowds carrying Abu
Akleh’s coffin
 
 
 
                        a 

 
 
 
                                    Mount of
Olives,                  a family plot
 
            honoring
                                    the latest
Victim of           Israeli occupation

 
 
 
 
 
            living                            in
                        the air














            watch                i                       n
    g


From Jerusalem to Jenin 




“God is greatest,” some chanted in Arabic.






                                                           let us
                                    finish the day










                      blue, bullet-resistant



and Abu Akleh’s coffin fell toward the ground.

            the




           killing
               the chronic tension



                       deliberate         












                                                ballistic



           Israel



                       expert


                                              bullet



Palestinian                     s


balletic

Explanatory Note:

 

This poem is an erasure from a Washington Post article dated May 13th, 2022, with the headline: “Massive crowds, police beatings as journalist’s funeral is held in Jerusalem,” detailing the descent of armed Israeli police in riot gear, beating Palestinian mourners and pallbearers carrying reporter Shireen Abu Akleh’s coffin to its final resting place. Abu Akleh had been shot while wearing a clearly marked press vest and helmet, in a precision shot just above her eat, where the helmet didn’t cover.

 

The word “balletic,” ending this piece, meaning related to or characteristic of ballet, was captured in screen shot for this erasure, but has since been corrected to “ballistic” at the link, though with no mention of the revision history in the article itself.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/13/shireen-abu-akleh-al-jazeera-israel-jenin/

 

Bazeed is a multi–award winning Egyptian immigrant, poet, playwright, spoken word artist, stage actor, performance artist, and cook, living in Brooklyn. An alliteration-leaning writer of prose, poetry, plays, and pantry lists, their work across genres has been published in print and online, and their plays performed on both sides of the Atlantic. To procrastinate from facing the blank page, Bazeed curates and runs a monthly(ish) salon and open mic in Brooklyn, and is a slow student of Arabic music.