A Stolen Memory

Feb 16

Written by Abood Alnajjar

Our memory, a pulse shattered by pain,

A tale told upon the ruins of dreams,

We dream of meeting amidst tears of loss,

And drown in silence that answers only with sighs.

Our memory, in the darkness of our sorrowful nights,

Returns us to days slowly folded away,

Each moment once full of life,

Now a wound bleeding without end.

In the corners of my heart hides my shy childhood,

Stories that laughed between our hands like roses,

But the war came, stealing innocence in a moment,

Shattering our dreams on the rocks of deep pain.

I used to run in the fields without whispers of fear,

Painting a clear sky on the walls of time,

Today, remnants of memories writhe in the dark,

And the sounds of shells drown out the calls of innocence.

Where has that child who slept peacefully gone?

And where are our laughs that once lit the nights?

The tenderness of days and warmth of safety were stolen from us,

And in our hearts, a dungeon of sorrow and silence was built.

Yet despite the ruin, the memory remains a flame,

Telling us we are still alive, living with hope,

And dreaming that childhood will one day return in peace,

Where war does not steal the most beautiful part of us... our memory.

An Introduction from Aboud Alnajjar

My name is Aboud, from Gaza, from beneath the rubble that has become more than broken

stone; it’s a heavy memory resting on our chests.

I write to you from a place where people have lost their homes, their dreams, even their faces

from the weight of suffering. And yet, I still cling to words... I write poetry not to escape reality,

but to turn it into a voice. A voice that can reach hearts like yours—hearts that still beat with

compassion.

Today, I write poetry to raise donations for my mother, who is exhausted from hunger, and for

children who have lost everything but the innocence in their eyes. I write because I believe

words can become bread. Words can become life.

Please stay with us... We love life, despite everything. We love knowledge, beauty, peace, and

humanity. We are fighting to survive, dreaming through the rubble, and resisting with beauty,

poetry, and hope.