On Parts
Dedicated to Palestinian children
They shed parts of themselves
to fit –
our screens
our eyes
our minds
our stomachs –
where they settled,
a bout of indigestion
uncovering a terminal illness killing us all.
The more children died,
the more parts we asked them to shed,
the smaller we became.
We are parts and they are whole.
Lobna El Gammal is an Egyptian-Canadian, first generation immigrant, currently residing in Ireland. She is part engineer, part poet, full human. Lobna dabbles in literature and things creative at the intersection of “Art” and “Science”. She is committed to energy technology by day – as they say- and poetry by night, though these can often reverse. Lobna’s poetry is inspired by: art, science, nature, the diaspora experience, the Islamic faith, the Arabic language, books, and sometimes things more random like croissants and insects.
The Marbled Sigh 