This is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature

by Ahdaf Soueif

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU They will always be More beautiful Than you The people you are killing. You think it is hatred That you feel But it is really envy. You imagine if you destroy them We will forget How tall they stood How level Their gaze How straight their backs. How even the littlest ones Stood their little ground. Meanwhile You stand Hunched as a cobbler In your absurd Killer’s Gear Yelling Like a crazy person, Your face contorted Dripping sweat From what would be With or without Your lethal weapons A bullying brow And feral chin. Killing everyone but especially children, For sport. Looking cool In your own mind; As you crunch bones Beneath your boot That are still Forming. Conquering. II Don’t forget the entertainment value Of your daily work For the folks back home. Who witness from the hillsides In their lounge chairs. What beautiful fun! We are not like Those people being broken Over there They tell each other. And for this moment They are right. They are not. But what does this mean For broken humanity? Selfie this.