Photo from Free Gaza, one of many photos of the people of Gaza.

Beloved people of Gaza

Beloved people of Gaza
Treasured people of Palestine
Teachers of courage and dignity
Archetype of humanity

Allow me to kneel down
And wash your feet with my tears
Kiss your blessed hands
And sprinkle your beautiful faces with musk and roses

While we sat pondering like fools
Utterly helpless
Talking much and doing less
Going round and round in circles
Thinking how to help
What to offer you to relief some of your pain

As usual
Full of surprises, you come out to our rescue, to soothe our agony
You present us with the most precious gifts
Lessons in bravery
Steadfastness, patience, perseverance, defiance, resilience
Optimism against all odds
Creativity in the face of utter oblivion
You've demonstrated that you are the free ones � we are the captives
You chose resistance over subjugation
You decided not to be enslaved
Not even to superpowers

Would we ever learn from you?

---

You can break my bones
My free spirit is invincible
You can cause me the loss of sight
The light of my insight
You'll never take away

In the shadows of darkness
Lies the corpse of your might
You can destroy my house
The windows of my hope,
You cannot break
The pillars of my faith
You can never shake

You can threaten me
With weapons of death
And mass destruction
Implanting fear in my heart
You cannot achieve
Nor can you cut off
My divine connection

With a missile
You can tear my body apart
My soul however
Is out of your reach
And is forever intact

You claimed victory in six days!
Victorious are those
With a dignified gaze
Facing tanks with tender flesh
And only with stones,
The F16 fighter blaze

You can never defeat my will to be
Because my power that you cannot explain
Grows from within the roots of my pain
You depend on the United States
For wealth and war supply
My infinite strength stems from

My creator, the One most high

Nahida is the author of many poems, prose and articles. Her site is http://poetryforpalestine.spaces.live.com/