Adam Ahmed
In Gaza Palestinian crowds clamor
for flour drone footage shows the scene
growing violent as aid trucks arrive
from this angle the starved resemble
ants swarming around a stray crumb
At the briefing the press secretary smiles
between somber expressions as he fields
questions about the crisis says
terrible tragedy and right to defend
At school I help Muslim students launch
a bake sale to raise money for children
in Gaza the sale will take place
during the holy month of Ramadan
when believers sacrifice food and drink
in a prolonged act of devotion corporeal
pleasure in exchange for spiritual freedom
cupcakes in exchange for care On X
Palestinians grow desperate for aid
children eat bread made of bird feed
they smile as they speak of their starvation
the sweetness of their expressions
masking the bitterness of their suffering
At the briefing the Secretary winces
between smiles says innocent civilians
and minimize casualties while fielding
questions about complicity The bake sale
will be held in the courtyard during lunch
when there’s no one in the halls I hang
the flyers I designed around the building
they quietly burst with pastel blues and pinks
pictures of cartoon cupcakes the flyers
say bake sale in big letters and Palestinian
children in small ones say please
don’t shoot sweetness in exchange
for prolonged mercy On Instagram
Palestinian children scrape flour
from the dirt their faces gaunt and grinning
look nearly grateful speaking of the bread
their families will eat from this dust
The Secretary laughs
in exasperation at the briefing says temporary
pause and strategic objectives between dropped
missiles The bake sale is a huge
success cupcakes and brownies laid out
in easily served pieces before eager crowds
searching for sugar smiles and cash
exchanged between somber thank yous
the gnawing hunger of everything
that cannot be uttered between us
On TikTok an interminable loop
of violence in the name of objectives
an IDF soldier smiles as he destroys the contents
of an aid truck flour spilled onto the dirt
as though in sacrifice The President grimaces
at the press conference says humanitarian
corridor and right to defend between muffled
screams a civil exchange at the table
whispers of terrorist between smiles
a boy clenching a fist
of cash in his pocket offers
to pay anyone who will abstain
from our violent sweetness
gestures to the painfully yellow
cupcakes as though they would
explode the students and I share bared
teeth while the hungry eagerly line up
for our sacrifice images of blood
mixed with flour on Instagram I catch
my eyes gazing back at me from the massacre
from this angle you can see the panic
gnawing the President smiles in the ice
cream shop fielding questions about innocent
violence holds his mouth open between
bites abstaining from the joy of losing
himself entirely in the act of devouring says
ceasefire by the weekend before resuming
his pleasure mercy in exchange for indulgence
the boy asks students how much money
we raised so he knows the exact amount
to donate for our annihilation body
shaking ready to burst into pieces
my mouth twists into a perverse
grin as it says legitimate cause
we exchange eyes between clenched
teeth a violent civility on TikTok
an unending feed of bodies
pressed into abstraction children
that could have been mine in pieces
waiting to be gathered at the bake sale
the President smiles in self-defense
says sugar in exchange for blood
Palestinians are crushed by air
dropped aid drown in pursuit of American
ketchup some sweetness to mask
the bitter bread of dirt the bake sale
is a terrible tragedy eager hands
raised in abstention unending lines of
boys whose smiles say shoot the students
and I share a gnawing hunger
Adam Ahmed is an Arab/American poet and teacher. He is currently working on a series of rage poems, tentatively titled Incidents, that explores the violences latent in civil discourse. This is his first published poem.