What to say during a Genocide & other meditations on
"Palestine Wail" is an anticipated new collection by Yahia Lababidi, a writer of Palestinian background. Lababidi has shared glimpses of his forthcoming book on various platforms, including social media and YouTube.
Lababidi's 'Wail' offers deeply felt reflections — political, moral & spiritual — on the ongoing genocide, much of it composed in real time.
Beloved Palestinian-American poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, praises Lababidi for not being afraid to "call out truth in the midst of catastrophe" and for his "passionate care" in addressing the inhumane conditions faced by Palestinians. She highlights the book's focus on radical love and the need to free all Palestinians living under occupation.
Poet James Crews commends the book as "necessary and truthful," stating that Lababidi "powerfully illuminates this heartbreaking time and terrible season in the history of our world." He appreciates the book's role as a "lantern in darkness," bringing to light the truth of lives that must be honored and remembered.
Lababidi's contributions to literature and culture, as well as his spiritual meditations, have established him as a significant voice in contemporary poetry.
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During a Genocide
You will find that during a genocide
most words lose their meaning
Some sound empty & others strange
Apart from unceasing prayer,
eloquence takes the form
of tears or kindness and solidarity
Even a quiet moan or sighing
is preferable to false words or worse:
a loud and wounding Silence…
✨
Gaza, Capital of Hurt
Fitting that the word gauze
should have ties to Gaza (غزة)
a center of weaving
since the 13th-century
It's our turn, after hundreds of years
to dress Gazan wounds & wipe their tears…
©️Yahia Lababidi