for Omar Qasem Abu Sharqiya
Buzzing mosquitoes circled his
left ear the summer of his birth.
His mother fanned him with her
wedding scarf. Tatreez threads
telling stories of fishermen who
pulled morning from their nets.
She swatted at the warm air, a
guard against the ones desperate
for the blood of the boy who simply
loved apricots. And after nine years
of waiting for a son, the buzzing
found its blood. please don’t put him
in the refrigerator his mother says.
he doesn't like the cold.
Contributor Notes
Ahmad Ibsais is a Palestinian-American immigrant and first-generation student who writes the newsletter State of Siege. Currently in law school, Ahmad hopes to use his words to cement the memory of his people as they fight their erasure.
