how could i not

On Animals and Palestine (A Poem)

by katrina, an anti-zionist organizer in minneapolis who works and hopes for the liberation of palestine

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how could i not

On Animals and Palestine (A Poem)

Photo by the author.

i take my dog to a dog park
it's on the property next to
an international airport

on hot days in the summer
there's always a breeze
from the soaring of planes as they return to the ground
from the ground to the soaring

and the dogs run and chase

    the planes

        the birds

            the grass

                the wind

and i am on the ground

anthropomorphizing my dog with the wind in his fur
running
to his heart's content

and

and i think of palestine.
                                    how could i not?

when i'm watching plane after plane
soar and land
soar and land
leave and soar
leave and soar

                            how could i not

when plane after plane arrives—
with humans and goods and new experiences

planes
planes that are built to
carry people
set them free (if only for a moment)
from the ground and the complete force
of gravity

                            how could i not

think of gaza as planes fly over my head and
i am not terrified that they will unleash
the next explosion
that means it's my turn
to be carried out in white shrouds

                            how could i not

as planes that are built
by the same companies that build bombs
and "innovate" death for genociding palestinians
fly in and out of my sight

                        how could i not

think of palestine when the space
around me is alive with
barks and wind and devoted love

when this mo(u)rning the pictures i saw
from gaza and hebron
were of dogs and their humans
beloved, treasured and bonded
to each other
rotting in the streets
together in death
from the bullets
of the i.o.f.
who decided to further torture a human
by killing their dog in front of them
so that the last seconds of the human's life
were filled with anguish anew
that their love
even for their animal
was enough of a condemnation
to be assassinated

together in death

                                how could i not

think of gaza when i
watch planes filled with people
travel freely
and gazans—same humanity
but different birth place—are
kettled
and cornered
and starved
and massacred

                                how could i not

think of gaza

                    how could i not

think of palestine

            how could i not

think of my complicity and tax dollars

    HOW COULD I NOT

think of my childhood home
and know it is still standing and
is less than 10 miles from
bomb factories that are innovating new bombs

which are then
stocked
and bought
and sent

which are then loaded
and flown

which are then
sent
in
planes
to
gaza
to
kill
the
people
who
love
their
land
and
their
family
and
their
breath
and
their
animals
and
their
life
and
their
humanity

just

            as

                    i

                            do

but i am at a dog park

next to an international airport
in a city that contracts with the genocide state of i*rael
in a suburbia that employs people to build bombs
in a state that innovates tax cuts for bomb builders
in a country that has never
cared
that indigenous people were and are here
and alive

how could i not

think of palestine

                        in

                            every

                                    breath

                                            i

                                                    take

        i

            think

                        of

                                a

                                    free

                                            palestine

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Editors’ Note: We believe that poetry—writing and reading and distributing it—has a part to play in the liberation of Palestine and all people from cycles of militarism, colonization, and violence. If you’d like to publish your anti-war poetry (or other art forms) with us, email us at tenkbombseditorial@proton.me.