Samhain

It’s the time when bonfires are lit

when it’s easier to cross into another world

when places are set at the table to welcome the dead, 

to consume the witches

so the evil in the world dies 

in the heat and the smoke and the flames.

But this Samhain in Gaza the evil is spreading

in the smoke and ashes.

Everywhere is aflame

nowhere is safe

and everyone is a witch,

the old, the young and even the dead must burn.

Gazans have become the new Nemeds

having already given their corn and milk

now they must give two thirds of their children

and watch as they are consumed in the fire.

It’s the custom after all.

https://oddballmagazine.com/poem-by-lynn-white-17/