"My Loyal Cactus" a Gaza poem by Ahmed Miqdad

"My Loyal Cactus"

 

a Gaza poem by Ahmed Miqdad

 

My loyal cactus,

I'm sorry to leave you alone in my balcony

I have no excuse except being forced to go to the south

Under the barrage of heavy bombs,

Frightening explosions and thousands of martyrs.

I'm sorry again to let you encounter the terrible days and nights,

Witness the destruction of my surrounding neighborhood

And let you face thirst for more than a year without a sip of water

But I was there hungry and starving like you

When I came back

I found you still stalwart

Only some scars on your body

As a testimony on the merciless soldiers.

Let me hug you tightly and console you

Because your thorns more delicate

Than the hypocrisy of humanity.