Current Events Poem by Barry Silverberg

The Children's Hour in Gaza / Henry Wallid Longfallah

As told to Barry Silverberg

Between the dark and the daylight. . . When we eat our houmous and salad,
Comes the Children’s’ Hour in Gaza, . . . That is known as “Se’att El Wallad”

I hear in the tunnel below me
The feet that have travelled across
The border that borders Egypt;
They belong to the Hamas

From the ruins I see by candle
Kareem in his bloody Keffiyya
And uncle Ali with an RPG,
The latest in from Orumiyyeh

A whisper, and then a silence:Yet I know by their merry eyesThey are plotting and planning togetherTo take me by surprise.

Kareem grabs Waffa from her cradle
Ali pulls Riffat by the hair;
As he shoves his Klatch in my belly
And says, you aren’t going nowhere.

They push my kids up the stairway
And drag them onto the roof,
Ali says, “Do you kids love Allah?
Well, now Allah’s asking for proof.”

In a trice they have set up the Rockets
They measure the charge and the fuel
“We may as well wait until morning,
When the Jews are on buses to school.”

In a flash, it already is launch time,
Let us give thanks to where it is due
Thanks Allah, Mubarak, and thank the UN
Who have let all these weapons come through.

A sudden roar from the heavens
From the street, an answering shout
The Israelis discovered launch pad
They’re planning on taking it out.

A thunder and then a silence
The men jump back down with all speed
They lie safe and sound in the tunnel,
And the world has another Shaheed.

Between the dark and the daylight…When we eat our houmous and salad,
Comes the Children’s’ Hour in Gaza, …That is known as “Se’att El Wallad.”

Barry Silverberg was born in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1952. Inspired by his Hebrew teachers, mostly Six Day War fighters, he made Aliah after graduating high school. He now lives in Kiriat Shmona with his wfe and five kids, and has seen 3 decades of wars fought bravely after politicians made cowardly and arrogant decisions.Email: barisil(at)netvision(dot)net(dot)il