Love Under Occupation

We wished we could dance on the rooftop of the mosque
climb the minarets and kiss in midair
suspended in green light
over the city.
In our hearts we did just that.
Danced a dabke with our souls united,
a dance for the dead
(like the thousands of lives extinguished in the Nakba)
for the suffering
(like the children in Gaza who will forever associate rain with bombs)
for the hopeless
(like those who sit quietly in defeat saying we have lost)
and for the ’48 lands and Jerusalem,
severed and fading.
A dance broadcasting our message:
we will survive

But in the end, we did it for ourselves.
Two minds
(minds of desire)
two bodies
(culture can’t restrict nature)
one shared experience
(we are human)

In that moment there was no past or future
and we were
free.

By mpn

Biography:

mpn is currently an undergraduate English Studies major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She currently lives and works in Ramallah, Palestine.