I can see the rage shaking in my bones, cracked ribs
passed down from generation to generation
Our mere existence is a threat to all
as it should be
For I don’t just feel my anger
but my mothers
my sitos
my khalos
my aunties
I can feel the memories of their past lives in Gaza in the way they describe it
the way they smile when they say her name
and the way that smile quickly fades as their story comes to a close
Sometimes I think about a different life in the country my mother once called home
I start to think about my life, our lives, if things weren’t what they are now
Would I be there? What words would I be writing down, as opposed to these?
Perhaps a letter describing my day
that I would send to you
Signed From Palestine, With Love
Citrine Ghraowi is a first-generation Palestinian/Syrian raised in Texas and currently residing in Brooklyn, New York. Citrine is unsure what a fulfilled life truly entails, but imagines that it starts with seeing a free Syria and a Palestine existing outside of Israeli occupation