Is Reality Real
A Poem for the Souls of Kfar Aza Kibbutz, Israel
On 7 October 2023, around 70 Hamas militants attacked Kfar Aza, a kibbutz about 3 kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip, massacring residents and abducting several hostages. Wikipedia
I must awake from this nightmare. Have to find a shelter somewhere. Why is this dream so loud, and who’s screaming?
My throat is raw. Was I screaming? Are my sheets soaked with blood streaming? Eyes open wide, but the nightmare plays on.
Bloody streets strewn with carrion. Then I see the barbarians. Leave my child alone! Someone wake me now!
Our kibbutz is a graveyard now. Spectral farmers, we cannot plow. Please come till the Earth and sow seeds of peace.
The horrors of the past four days are beyond comprehension. When I heard on the news about the massacre of the entire population of the small kibbutz of Kfar Aza, I knew I had to write about it as a response to the prompt created by Indubala Kachhawa in Paper Poetry. The details of the obscene atrocities committed by Hamas jackals continue to unfold. No horror movie ever filmed could equal the reality of this corruption of humankind. How can this reality be real?
God have mercy on our souls.
A note on the poetic form:
Because my emotions were running so high, I needed the structure of a poetic form to rein in my thoughts. I chose a form new to me to further focus my thoughts. The poem is written from a mother’s point of view. The form is a tripadi. Here is an explanation:
The tripadi is a Bengali poetic form. Here are the guidelines:
Tercets (or three-line stanzas) Lines one and two end rhyme with each other Lines one and two have eight syllables Line three has ten syllables Poem may consist of one tercet or several
Thank you to Indubala Kachhawa for providing the Paper Poetry prompt for October. We are encouraged to tag up to 5 people, inviting them to respond to the prompt, “Is Reality Real?”.
I want to tag the following two people and invite them to step out of their “comfort zone” of writing prose to give poetry a chance. Both Michael Boyd and OCTAVIA EVER AFTER write with such lyrical imagery, I know they are poets at heart!
J Oliver Dempsey, your poetry is so beautiful! I know you rarely submit to a publication, but I would implore you to grace us at Paper Poetry. This prompt is made for you!!
Toni The Talker, I know you are stepping aside from Medium for a bit to pursue greatness, but how about one last poem for the road?
Surekha Chandrasekhar, I wasn’t able to entice you to submit a poem last time, but you are no stranger to poetry. Don’t be shy! You are full of imagery and descriptive writing! Join us!
You will find the instructions for the prompt at the end of the newsletter.
As always, my heartfelt thanks to Carolyn Hastings, editor of Paper Poetry, for her friendship and kindness.