Beneath the rubble
A wedding dress—embroidered with poppies,
Dusted with soot, torn to tiny shreds.
Beneath the rubble
A checkered keffiyeh—stitched with love,
Covered in blood, unraveling into flimsy threads.
Beneath the rubble
A handmade misbahah—crafted with care,
Broken into two, unspooling into countless beads.
Beneath the rubble
A jar of olives—selected one by one,
Scattered like fallen stars, dispersed like seeds.
Beneath the rubble
The sweetest figs—handpicked with precision,
Rotting at the core, never to be consumed.
Beneath the rubble
Photographs, stories, a heritage—
Forgotten, silenced, entombed.
Beneath the rubble
Two sisters embracing, shielded by each other’s arms,
Serene as a painting, tragic like a fairytale.
Beneath the rubble
A child’s hand—buried below mountains of debris,
Reaching out towards you, but to no avail.
—
Amal El-Sayed is a PhD candidate at Ain Shams University, Egypt, where she teaches English poetry at the Faculty of Al-Alsun (Languages). Her poems and stories appear or are forthcoming in Poetry Pacific, Wyldblood Magazine, and Writers Resist. You can find her on Instagram at @amal.el_sayed.
