Issue 15 • Fall 2005 • Poetry

Qalqilya, troubled villanelle

Billy Clem

There is a timbre of voice
That comes from not being heard . . .
-- Audre Lorde

These incursions in Qalqilya, a great cacophony:
Brothers and fathers disappeared, women's cries
Heard only by those who listen.

The enemy will feel the heavy price of his actions:
Jenine, Adora, Ramallah, and villages now vestiges because
These incursions in Qalqilya. A great cacophony:

It is my Jewish and human duty to resolutely refuse
to take any part in this army: this
Heard only by those who listen:

For thirty five years, a black flag has flown over our heads,
but we have refused to see it: instead,
These incursions in Qalqilya, a great cacophony:

this rage, I don't know what to do with it --
it's in my nightmares,
Heard only by those who listen.

The suicide bomber's belt must be unbuckled,
the oppressor's heal lifted, but
These incursions in Qalqilya, a great cacophony,
Heard only by those who listen

Billy Clem received a BA, cum laude, from Culver-Stockton College and an MA from Missouri State University. He is a candidate for the PhD in English and Women's Studies at Northern Illinois University and is a full-time Instructor of English at Waubonsee Community College. This is his first published poem.

Go To: Issue 15 or Lodestar Quarterly home page