Stand up

Sitting in class scrolling on my phone

I see a child’s skull cracked open

I sit there no word spoken

I sit in class as if the world is not broken

I hold myself together and show no emotions

As I listen to the lecture

I also hear the explosions

As I hear my peers answering questions

I also hear Hind calling for rescue

As I learn about the thermodynamics and a machine burning fuel

I see kids being burned as their skin is the fuel for the fires

As I learn about how bacteria decompose organic matter

I remember a child trapped in a car watching her family being decomposed

I wish I could say the nakba is being repeated

but it’s even much worse

All the nakba stories that I heard from my grandmother

Her memories and stories are burned into my brain

And now all these images and videos are being burned into my eyes

Sidra’s picture is burned into our eyes

A body hanging on rubbles

A body of a little girl with its limbs falling apart

Yet they expect us to act as if our hearts are not being torn apart

Yet we continue with our day barely hanging there

Despite all that we stay resilient

We stay patient and strong

We learn from Palestinian resilience

Palestinians refusal to give up

No matter what, Palestinians stand up

All the destruction will be built up

And we will follow suit

We will not give up

We will keep pulling up

We will come together and

A better world we will build up