The sky wears a shroud, grey and dim,
Sunrise fades away, hopes grow thin.
Eyes once full of childish gleam,
Now hollowed out, lost in a stolen dream.
Faces etched with soundless cries,
Reflects a world where innocence lies.
I navigate a land where dreams are long dead,
Its air is thick with blood and dread.
I run through the deserted streets alone,
Through the labyrinth of dust and stone.
Among the ruins, I hold my soul tight,
Scattered ashes, I won’t fail to recall this sight.
Nightfall comes, deadly black,
I seek a way to revive me back.
In sleep, a world I might leave,
But dreams betray, they’re cruel and bleak.
In dreams, where ruins come alive,
A reminder of my fight to survive.
Reality’s ghosts, they haunt me still,
Chasing shadows, breaking will.
In sleep, I see the world the same,
No refuge found, no end to blame.
I yearn for a new dawn, for skies of blue,
For a land reborn, for something true.
Ahlam Hwaiti
Ahlam Hwaiti is a law student in her third year of college in Gaza.
Photo Credit: Gaza, injured child, Date 20 November 2012, Source https://www.flickr.com/photos/gigiibrahim/8202165051/, Author Gigi Ibrahim, Creative Commons License