Karen Alkalay-Gut

1.
No one tells it yet
Not the whole story
How long would it take you
to speak of your child
wounded in the chest
but still breathing
when her arm
is sliced off? 
 
Ah, how could you tell
since this was
the last sight you saw
 
before you were slaughtered.

2.
No one tells it yet
how it was
with the pretty dancer
that a piece of her skull
was discovered
weeks later
after she was paraded
face down, naked
in a truck
through the streets
of Gaza

3.
When you find
a pair of spines
and only DNA reveals
a father and son
in a final embrace
incinerated
alive,
your mouth
cannot form
words

Poem ©Karen Alkalay-Gut
©2023 `Photos as credited; source: NYTimes