She's on her way to school
age 12
still trying to find herself in a land
she doesn't know too well
An exile outsider, anger rages like a fire
a live wire
deep inside a yearn to return
she's the life of a refugee
with no place to be, to just be
the life of a Palestinian
Al-Nakba day by day again
no friend but the camp that she's in
the alien land that she's in
miles from her ancient home
the Zionists took and call it their own
They Stole it
and we'll never forget
cuz memory's a bitch
we'll never forget
so pay to respect to it
cuz one day it'll turn the pages of history to
a new chapter
the laughter doesn't matter
cuz the disaster of 1948
no escape from the land of the past
Leena carries this on her back
on the way to class
like a Naji Al-Ali cartoon
the Arab world keeps its back turned
and looks at our finger as we point to the
moon.
Politicians talk peace and feast on the death
and disease of centuries
cash checks from lobbies in love with power
but every hour for Leena is another in diaspora
She's the master of simple arithmatic
She'll see the years add with no justice real up
by 60 she'll be deathly sick
from living conditions and
a litany of incisions and wounds into her heart
we can go back to the very start
she was born in a refugee camp
parents seek to return her to the sender like a
wrong stamp
tramps in the States live better
donated sweaters, food from the UN,
a blend of humanitarian programs
she can't return to her land for one simple
reason: She's a Palestinian
she can't return for one simple reason:
She's a Palestinian and
Israel's got this Law of Return which bans her
but Jews from anywhere can move in
her old house in fact was taken only after her
village was attacked
and this is the history in our memory
we can never forget
REFRAIN
her feet cold from the concrete
and outside on the street
she keeps going
on and on
trying to get home as if the borders were
gone
the clouds move behind her
slowly realizing the moment
forces greater than she collectively
abstractly move her body
delicately in her pajamas
implementing UN resolution 194
by herself, this 12 year old
resistance by persistence
until the powers that be can get the
message
they can leverage whatever
and buy our leaders forever
with personal jets
but they can never ever
bet on making us forget
the wrongs committed against us
trust us
we carry history with us
it'll never leave us
our history will never leave us
and we can't forget
links
bio
Bibliography Return aka 194 Propaganda 2 Low Expectations Disappeared About Baghdad Leena2Memory FOX News