Word count: 342
Paragraphs: 4
A stone, a stone against a tank, stones
against an army of tanks, a father throws
a stone at a gun so that the gun turns
away from his child, a stone against a missile,
a stone against a carpet of bombs, they were
people of the olive and of the sea, and now
they are people of the stone, a stone
against a bullet, a stone against death,
the child escapes into another father’s arms
or mother’s or other’s, a stone against death,
the fellahin throw their baskets of olives at a gun,
an olive against a bullet, a grandmother chases
a gun away from the mosque with her cane,
wood against a bullet, wisdom against a bullet,
escaped into the arms of a neighbor, into the home
of neighbors, sanctuary against a bullet,
sanctuary against a tank, sanctuary against a bomb,
the adolescents strip down to their undergarments
and walk with their hands above their heads,
innocence against a bullet, the etiolation of modesty
and hunger against a bullet, against a sniper’s bullet,
sanctuary against a bomb, a missile against the home
of a neighbor, the child becomes whispers in the dust,
stones against an army of tanks, an army of tanks
against healers, hundreds of bodies in a shallow grave,
their hands tied behind their backs, suffocated
in prayer, an army of tanks against convalescence,
a stone against a wall advancing toward the sea,
they were people of the olive and of the sea
and now are people of the stone, a stone
against the sea, a stone against a wall advancing
toward the sea, half a man sips coffee embellished
with cardamom from the hands of a neighbor,
his legs and sex spoiled by concrete and rebar,
a missile against a building, a building against a man,
the neighbor asks if he can hear whispers in the dust,
dust against dust, dust against stone,
stone against bullet, bullet against infant,
infant against hunger, hunger against tank,
an army of tanks against healers, hundreds of bodies,
limbs, prayers, olives, wisdom with no schools
to house it, or people, they were people of the olive
and of the sea, and now they are people of the stone,
can you hear their whispers in the dust?
Dante Micheaux is the author of Circus, which won the Four Quartets Prize from the Poetry Society of America and the T. S. Eliot Foundation, and Amorous Shepherd. His poems and translations have appeared in African American Review; the American Poetry Review; Callaloo; Literary Imagination; Poem -A-Day; Poetry; and Tongue—among other journals and anthologies. Micheaux’s other honors include the Oscar Wilde Award, an Amy Clampitt Residency, the Ambit Prize, and a fellowship from the New York Times Foundation. He is a Fellow and Artistic Director at Cave Canem Foundation. Micheaux’s most recent work is the libretto Sky in a Small Cage.