This Brave New World, XCVII
to Nick Virgilio
running out of water
running out of life:
Gaza in smoky darkness
Note: The dedication alludes to Nick Virgilio's most famous "classical/nature haiku:"
lily:
out of the water…
out of itself
Selected Haiku, 1989
Nick Virgilio who also wrote a lot of "'blood-less yet gory,' i.e., less popular/less known, haiku" about the Vietnam War, such as one of my favourites about the "man-nature" relationship
deep in rank grass,
through a bullet-riddled helmet:
an unknown flower
And to the best of my knowledge, the following is the first English language haiku that dismantled the facade of haiku as the art of "singing about flowers and birds”
a drizzling rain ...
washing their blood
into their blood
Light Run, 1971
Michael McClintock
There is a set of five haiku called 'Vietnam: Five Poems" in Light Run. For more, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Haiku Is Not Just the Art of “Singing about Flowers and Birds”
FYI: The Guardian, Oct. 17: Fears grow people are dehydrating to death in Gaza as clean water runs out
Fears are growing that people in Gaza are beginning to dehydrate to death as clean water runs out, while Israeli airstrikes continue to pound the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million residents amid a total blockade on food, electricity, medicine and fuel...UN experts have condemned the Israeli bombardment and blockade as “collective punishment”, which is a war crime.
And Democracy Now, Oct. 12: Human Rights Lawyer Michael Sfard: Israelis Must Maintain Their Humanity Even When "Their Blood Boils"
Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer and expert on international human rights, calls for Israel to act within international law in response to Hamas’s attack on civilians Saturday. “My government is waging an attack that seems to be using war crimes to retaliate on war crimes,” says Sfard. “They want revenge, as if a revenge would bring back the dear ones that are gone.” Sfard says Israel should end its bombing and lift the blockade on Gaza because civilians do not deserve punishment for militant attacks. “Modern international law prohibits, with no [American or Israeli] exception, collective punishment.”
Added:
Covering the War
for Edward Said, author of Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World
a whistling,
an explosion then a fireball ...
claims and counterclaims
fogging this starless night
of mud-stained bodies
to clicking sounds
five hundred more deaths ...
the spokesman
reports it like weather changes
from cloudy to rainy
not for our suffering
lived experiences or comments
but for yes or no answers ...
shuttling among TV programs
a Gazan friend cries out
Never Again
a promise, a slogan,
a bumper sticker ...
now a rallying cry
for more chaos and carnage
FYI: CBC News, Oct. 22: People are starving to death in Gaza,' director of World Food Program says
And The Irish Times, Oct. 14: "The outside world must walk Israel back from the abyss. It cannot be part of the choir of incitement"
...We are now staring into an abyss. Surely it is possible, if one accepts the humanity and equality of all people without discrimination or distinction, to hold three truths simultaneously. First, the militant attack on Israeli civilians was unconscionable, inhumane and in violation of international law. Second, Israel’s collective punishment against Palestinian civilians and its actions in Gaza are unconscionable, inhumane and a violation of international law. And, third, one must address the context of occupation and apartheid in which this is unfolding if one is to maintain integrity and be able to plot a strategy going forward in which both Palestinians and Israelis can live in freedom and security. If we can hold these three truths, then it will be possible to prevent further casualties, secure the release of prisoners and step back from the precipice...
written by
Daniel Levy is the president of the US/Middle East Project and a former Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians at Taba under prime minister Ehud Barak and at Oslo B under prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
And Zaha Hassan is a human rights lawyer and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously she was the co-ordinator and senior legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership, and a member of the Palestinian delegation to Quartet-sponsored exploratory talks between 2011 and 2012
