A Room of My Own: Golden Dove Statue Tanka

Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXXVI: "a golden dove statue"

inspired by George Orwell's ghost

the man who bombed kids

gives a golden dove statue

to the man

who sent him planeloads of bombs:

war is peace, peace is war ...

FYI: The Jerusalem Post, Oct. 13 2025: PM Netanyahu presented US President Trump with a gift today, gifting him a golden dove.

And Haaretz, Editorial, Oct. 15 2025: Netanyahu Fears Peace More Than He Fears War. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXXVII: "now, ceasefire"

Now, "Ceasefire"

a boy stares

into the TV camera ...

his bones

protruding as if chiseled

by the cruel hand of famine

with glazed pupils

a white-haired woman

gazes up

searching for a sky-high shelf

of hummus-stuffed bread

FYI: Democracy Now, Oct. 15 2025: Pressure Grows on Israel to Allow More Aid into Gaza

Pressure is growing on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza as the ceasefire continues to hold. On Tuesday, Israel told the United Nations it would allow only half of the 600 daily aid trucks called for under the deal. 

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXXVIII: "first bombless day"

First Bombless Day

hometown

once a place of human warmth

and safety

now a pile of stones and dust

where memories crumble

family

once a source of love and help

now whispered names

on trembling lips

with a question, "still alive?"

ruins and ruins ...

under Gaza's smeared sun

childhood memories

scatter like splintered shards

that can’t be fit together

ceasefire deal

once a sunbird singing nonstop

now a mute swan

battling the chilly winds

of hunger and despair

The New Verse News, October 16 2025

Author’s note: The Palestine sunbird pictured above (Cinnyris osea) is a small passerine bird of the sunbird family, Nectariniidae, and in 2015, the Palestinian Authority adopted the species as a national bird. Native to Eurasia but migrating south for the winter, the mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a rare winter visitor to Palestine.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXXXIX: "first bombless night"

canopy of stars

on first bombless night

shards of thoughts

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCXL: "death and life"

Death and Life

I stand closer to you

than I have been in two years 

but there's no hug

no healing..., a mother eulogizes

as the sky roils with dark clouds

the first rays 

of autumn sunset glow

the color 

returning to the face

of a released hostage