Let Them Eat Kenafah – A Poem
Esteemed dignitaries .. gathered to admire the emperor's newest robe. By Samah Sabawi and Nahedh ElRayes Jr.
They ate the world's largest Kenafah in Nablus.
And broke a Guinness world record
In absurdity and madness
Esteemed dignitaries
And press from around the globe,
All gathered to admire the emperor’s newest robe.
And to eat a slice of pastry…
Seduced by the scrumptious tasty treat
Through the checkpoints
Down the road along a Nablus street
They came…
From the fields of grief
And villages carved by an apartheid wall
Along the mud roads they walked,
Where farmers become heroes then martyrs they fall
They came…
They didn’t stop to enjoy the sight of Banksy’s balloons
On the world’s largest canvass,
Nor did they notice the security goons
And the people they harass.
They didn’t even smile when they saw the donkey
Handing the Israeli soldier his paper ID
They walked in the shadow of settlements
They walked past the powers that be
And there, in that surreal reality
They ate Kenafah in Nablus
They eat stale food in Gaza’s neighborhoods
Where merchants make a fortune selling expired goods
Digging tunnels under a city that can hold its own
Yet no such book holds a record for what Gaza is known
Guinness did not check his mail
to read about the world’s largest open air jail
One of the most condensed places on earth
Sadly though, for what it’s worth
The inmates have finally began to learn
Every night they curse El Deomocratiah
And with hungry pangs they dream Of Kenafah Nabulsiyah
They eat sour grapes in the camps, they stand alone
Silently breaking a few records of their own
They stand alone
The world’s largest refugee population
The longest standing problem at the United Nations
They wait for the implementation of resolution 194
And every night they sleep on their bare cold floor
They wait!
But this night…
From the far distance they hear
The words of their naked emperor loud and clear:
“If my people are hungry for justice and dignity,
Let them eat Kenafah in Nablus city.”
- Samah Sabawi contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
