Poetry

For my friend's birthday, her roommate gave her a set of teacups from Palestine. She started calling them her "little Palestinians." Several weeks later, one of the cups met its demise at the hands of a misplaced orange. I wrote this poem to commemorate the event. (It's also posted on a blog about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: http://salemshalom.blogspot.com.)

settlement

the little palestinian
cup
settled in
on the kitchen counter.
tiny blue & white tile
reflecting life
in all its glory
of fragmented togetherness.

out of place, an orange
rests
atop the cup,
also settling in.
orange from california
trumping
arab blue.
complementary colours?

suddenly the orange is
plucked up
for breakfast.
still attached.
the cup, too, flies
fighting
union with fruit
and wins at last.

the orange lets go,
drops
the cup
squarely on the harsh ground.
it shatters loudly –
blue &
white scattered
to all corners of the room.

beauty is fragmented &
the orange,
too, falls.
orange blood with blue pieces.
mingled in brokenness.