https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Israel%27s_Genocidal_Assault_on_the_Gaza_Ghetto_(53289186330).jpg
I’m linking to this extraordinary rage-meditation before it gets taken down for whatever “national security” reason: A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation: Thirteen Maqams for an Afterlife, by the magnificent Palestinian-American poet/translator and physician Fady Joudah. Thanks to LitHub for making it available, and thanks to Louise Glück, wherever she’s traveling these days, for choosing Joudah’s first book for the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition in 2007.
For anyone interested in the title of Joudah’s lament, here’s a good place to start exploring maqam.
Finally, I hope it’s obvious that Joudah’s lament joins the lament of progressive Israelis in speaking out against the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The despicable atrocities perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th cannot be an excuse for the even greater atrocities being perpetrated by the corrupt regime of “King Bibi” Netanyahu and its ongoing advocacy of apartheid in the nation of Israel.
Joseph Hutchison, Colorado Poet Laureate 2014-2019, has published 20 collections of poems and edited or co-edited three poetry anthologies. He currently directs two master’s-level programs for University College at the University of Denver: Professional Creative Writing and Arts & Culture Management. Joe lives with his wife, Melody Madonna, in the mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado, the city where he was born. 
Thank you, Joe, for sharing Fady’s incredibly perceptive, heartbreaking, and comprehensive piece. And thank you for all you do for poetry.
I keep remembering an old saying: like shooting fish in a barrel. Poor Gaza. And yes, brave Israelis are clamoring for a ceasefire too. Thanks for sharing this, Joe.