The Vipers - Gaza

You have to wade through the dogs, the vipers, the preachers, the brands

With nothing between you and their sharpened teeth

But the skin over your pale ivory skeleton

They can tear at the flesh.

They can blacken tissue

They can bleed you.

But they can’t break the bones

And when you’re through, when all that’s left

Is your breath on the air and their howls behind you

Raise the child in your arms to the sun

Give her light