New Release: Our Pulse Against the Drones
A collection of 22 original poems by Shahd Alnaouq
Quiet notes of the heart form a melody of survival in this collection of 22 original poems. A voice is not just a voice in Gaza. It is a pulse and a testament to the strength of the human spirit to outlast the severest measures of force and demolish brutal arguments with tender truths.
Available in English.
Introduction
This collection of poems is offered to every soul who still believes in their own humanity. To those whose hearts are not numb, to those who still carry tenderness in the midst of ruins, to those who love Gaza with its men and women, its children, its tents, its alleys, its steadfastness and its sacrifice.
To the faithful ones who never stop following our news, who whisper prayers for us between their breaths. To the lovers, who, despite impossible circumstances, still dare to love their families, their sons and daughters, their streets, and their homelands.
Every word you will read here is rooted in truth. I have seen it, lived it, breathed it. As you move through these pages, you may find yourself walking among us, hearing our cries, sharing our stubborn hope.
If you think you are too strong to be moved by a poem, turn the page. If your heart is made of glass and cannot bear the weight, turn the page as well—but keep a tissue close by. For here, tears are not weakness; they are a testimony of life. In Gaza, we do not break under destiny—we sharpen ourselves against it. No occupation, no tank, no F-16 can silence the human pulse that insists on singing.
Should I introduce myself? Perhaps I should. But what can I say except: I am Gazan.? Gazan by blood, by language, by time, by loss, and by love. I write to you from the core of Gaza’s midnight, where bombs fall louder than sleep, where neighbors vanish, and where the only witness left to my heart is paper. I do not know if these poems will ever reach you, or if I will be carried away as a martyr before finishing them. But if you are reading this, then you hold not just poems, but fragments of a beating heart that refuses to be silenced.
Dearest readers—you are our last hope. Do not let the world blind you. Be seekers of truth. Be defenders of what is human, wherever life and fate may cast you.
Sample Illustration and Text
A Little Peace, A Little Justice
I never wished for a rosy life, nor one resembling paradise.
I wished only for a walnut tree, its shade a quiet reassurance.
A single moment of peace, threaded with the chirping of birds.
A wall to lean against in stolen hours.
A notebook to safely guard the record of my days.
A cat to share my morning glass of milk.
A butterfly to catch in a photograph before it flew away.
A dream to set sail for.
A morning rich with the taste of citrus sun.
A few minutes lost in novels, my mind unclouded.
A window lit softly, serene and quiet.
All I ever wanted was a little peace, a little justice.
But my grandmother told me: justice lives only in heaven.
I wish I had believed her,
before I lost my self-containment,
before the rust of hope corroded me,
before my energy sank into a bottomless well,
before a strange depression smothered my breath,
before I bartered away the remnants of my dreams
in the marketplace of despair.
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So so beautiful 🥺