Stones and Oranges, Oranges and Stones

Abstract

Stones and Oranges, Oranges and Stones Marilyn Krysl (bio) It will not be easy for you to refuse to kill. mairead corrigan maguire 1.Gaza women, flare of scarf Blare of hornsChildren barefoot Crowd of men, blue jackets Flash of blue shirt Boy, selling newspapersCalling out the headlines Sharon is in! Water of ditches Water of fecesWhere, the mother says, did you get these oranges? I picked them for you, he says, at Karni Crossing.I’m telling you, she says. Don’t go to Karni Crossing. I didn’t throw stones. I went there to pick oranges.I went there because we have nothing to eat. Quickly now, a street Helicopter rotorsChildren run inside The hurled canister We thought it was tear gas White smoke beneath the doorWe thought it was smoke Then this smoke turned black The taste in our mouths was the taste of sugarThe children went blind I could not see to help them [End Page 46] My body began to shake The children shaking, cryingI wanted to go mad to tear off my own skin The boy, head flailing bound to the hospital bedThe mother, exhausted on the floor below the bed The flailing boy fallen asleep, his stillnessAcross the room the dead boy, his stillness If we went out, the woman said, who would want us?If we went out, what country would take us? Did you see, the soldier said, who threw the bomb?He began to pick the dates and eat them I saw no one, I said I was in my houseHe ate more dates He stuffed dates in his pockets The bulldozers’ motors One by one they killed the treesOne by one the trees fell Tree after tree When they had passed not a single tree was standingThen they began to push down our houses What do they want from us? Don’t they have children?Don’t they have children? They kill children so easily now A street calm with shops A plate glass windowRachel and Naomi choosing lipsticks, a powder puff And the martyr girl Ayat al-AkhrasDoes she hear her own death? The blaster and the blasted: [End Page 47] On the sidewalk, a head At the curb, an armThe name of the martyr girl’s sister means peace We lay on our stomachs My friend saw a bit of copperIf I can reach it with this wire, he said, I’ll sell it He raised up to reach Soldiers shot him in the headWe carried him, running We could not run fast enough My friend and I we were each other’s shadowsWe were a knot that cannot be undone When my father learned I threw stones he sat me downIf you get shot, he said, who will support the family? If they shoot you in the back, he said, you will be paralyzedWho do you think will push you in your wheelchair?Now my father has no work We are sitting, just sittingWhen my father was a boy, he also threw stones 2.Another path is the path of the mothersitting at a table, writing to her son I would not give one hair of your head for any countryYou are more important than any country It will not be easy to refuse the old waysIt will take all your courage to walk unarmed Remember that the world is your countryRefuse to have enemies Befriend this world [End Page 48] The path of the mother leads to Kibbutz Mezerthe path between the olives and the kibbutz’s bananas In an office an official a desk, a map, a penThe ink of the pen draws a line behind the olives Dov Avital stands in the shade of the bananasNow see him cross from the bananas to the olives We are Kibbutz Mezer We do not want this lineWe do not want a wall We would not take your land The olive trees are yours Harvest your olivesIf land must die we offer our land There are...