Day 458

(a report shows that 96% of children in Gaza think their death is imminent)

The child tells his older brother
he is sure he will die.
His brother looks at him.
They are twelve and eight.
Their father was killed a year ago.
Four siblings killed in a strike last month.
Their mother is alive, the baby alive,
but it’s cold and they’re hungry
and barefoot and they have
no winter jackets. If I can find you
a jacket, the older boy
asks, do you think you can stay alive?
The younger one is silent.  If I can
find you a jacket and a pair
of shoes?  Silence.  The younger boy
looks at the ground.  The air is filled
with the stench of death and sewage.
A jacket and a pair of shoes
and a bowl of soup?  the older
boy goes on, and at this
the younger one looks up
at his brother.  Lentil soup?
he asks, with bread? and his brother
nods.  And the younger one
says, his voice
weak with hunger,
tiredness, defeat, Yes, ok.