The high-end outdoor Mamila Mall of West Jerusalem. A street corner in a Palestine refugee camp.
I saw a rug
in an Israeli shop
late on a Tuesday
West Jerusalem
I stopped in my tracks
my roommate asked
what’s wrong?
I gulped down a sob
Because I had seen her rug
the one she lifted
to show me the sewage
seeping into the children’s bedroom
I started to walk
my roommate asked
is it hard to see?
I stifled the fire in my belly
I saw my future
and I answered
it’s harder to live it
and that was the end of that
