i keep having this dream

where the sky is pregnant

with our truths

and gives birth to liberation.

 

in it, we are all

gathered where the earth

smells of lemon

and كعك بالسمسم.

 

here

bellies are full,

and hearts and minds, too.

here

clay-caked palms build walls

only for shelter,

never for partition.

and we sleep sapphire nights

under breezy, glittered sky.

 

here

is where the sand pulls forth

olive tree,

and life is sacred.

life is sacred.

life is sacred.

 

here

is where “to exist”

is to always have family,

is to know belonging

because it hums in our blood.

 

here

our daughters are all smiles

and citrus and sunshine.

their laughter

never an excuse for leering gaze.

 

here

children turn to the heavens,

lined with paper kites,

without flinching

at the rumble of foreign jets.

 

here

a soft nye sings

the forgotten tunes of our ancestors,

suppressed from our collective memories

by years of occupation.

 

here

تيتا and سيدو

rest peacefully in lands they tilled.

their souls cherish the sweetness

of home

of عودة.

 

here

is Palestine.

here

is the home of every colonized people.

here She always was:

                                             حرة

                                       finally free.

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Noor Wadi is a law student at the University of Texas in her final year of school, who organizes as an advocate for the Muslim and Palestinian communities. Noor was a member of the UT Spitshine poetry team in 2017. She performs spoken word poetry around the country and has been featured in HuffPostWomen for her poem, “White Lines.”