"As I can live
let me never unsee
children burying their
mothers, fathers, siblings
friends
let me never unsee parents &
grandparents burying
children that should have buried
them
let me never unsee hospitals,
schools, universities
homes, archives, memories
knowledge, history turned into
nothing but grey rubble
let me never unsee men publicly
stripped & paraded in their underwear
let me never unsee the pregnant & menstruating
women with nothing to clean
themselves
& let me never unsee the tik tok
videos of Israelis celebrating
mass civilian murder
& mocking Palestinian humanity.
As I can live
let me never unhear
the wail of a Palestinian doctor
at work when her lifeless daughter
was wheeled past her
let me never unhear the cries
of children undergoing
surgeries without anesthesia
let me never unhear the pain of a father holding the blown apart pieces of a son
in a plastic bag
let me never unhear the rumblings of stomachs
that have not been feed
the cracking of journalist voices
who have not had water
the Palestinians prayers
for their families
let me never unhear
the press conference of children
pleading to live
the nightmares of children
pleading to dream
& let me never unhear the sound
of bombs laced with genocidal words
of Israeli leadership
and the international silences
that killed them.
As I can live,
let me never unsmell
the wonder of fresh air
the warmth of Palestinian food
full of spices, fresh olive oil
friendship & love
and remember all they
smell is death
the decomposing of bodies
not given the dignity of a proper
burial.
But most of all,
As we can live
let us never unsee, unhear, unknow
the bravery of grieving families
turn to help others
the medics who stayed to die
with their patients
the journalists who used their last
breath to upload a report
and the poets who died
to bring us hope,
to be a tale.
-Melissa Castillo
Dec. 8, 2023"