Palestine

You are the Atlantic Ocean

lying somewhere

between the east and the west.

You are the merging of the

Mediterranean Sea

and Pacific,

a perfect combination

of foreign and familiar.

You are the water

brushing against both shores

where I stand

hoping to feel the exotic tide

of your home land…

if just for a moment.

You are Abercrombie shirts

and Arab skin.

You are the conversation

traveling through

a cell phone.

As you speak to your mother

I soak up the words

I so desperately wish

I could understand.

You are مرحبا

شكرا

and

أحبك

These words

are not droplets

I play with.

They are waves

I dive into,

Trying

to taste the uniqueness

saturated inside.

Wishing

I could smell

the aroma of where you

come from

Needing

to absorb

who you are.

These are precious

grains of sand

you gave me

That cling to my skin

when the Pacific tries to

tug them away.

You are Hala

Layan

and Jana

Little girls with

long, dark hair.

They came to me

in a dream

playing with my

golden locks

and giggling.

I wish I could be

part of the that world

your world

a world of beautiful sisters

and inspiring cousins.

How I wish I could

dip my hands in henna

and join them.

You are music with

melismatic rhythms

and instruments

whose sounds are as mysterious

as their names.

sounds that make my hips sway

and eyes slowly shut

so I can sink into the beauty

of the lyrics.

أحبيني بلا عقد

They feel so right on my lips.

You are an old Qur’an

taped to poster board

being shared with a class.

I want to open you

and read the foreign  script.

I may not understand,

but the letters

are beautiful

and I want to know them by heart.

You are lamb and rice

foods I cannot pronounce

but crave nonetheless.

I want to taste

your culture

let it fill me

until I know it inside and out

I want you to teach me

about your language

and

music

and

traditions.

I want to know

Islam

as well as I know

Christianity

I want to swim

in you essence,

drift on your currents,

be one with the flow

of the Mediterranean Sea.

Until I arrive,

dripping,

on the streets of Palestine.