Duha Hasan, Al Mawasi-Khan Yunis

Duha Hasan is a Palestinian student who is interested in poetry, writing, women’s rights, and growth.

Theme: Miracle Poems

Duha - Miracle Poem

I’m a miracle 

No 

I’m an owl, I stay awake at night,

I enjoy the quietness of an airstrike.

I’m a miracle 

No 

I’m an old nomad 

I love to evacuate every week or so 

To where

To the unknown 

I’m a miracle 

No 

I’m a socialite 

I love being imprisoned with forty or fifty people, 

Use the same restroom 

Have the same canned food.

I’m a miracle 

No 

I’m an ignorant 

By choice left school 

To the school of animosity

To learn the mercy from the unmerciful 

To learn love from haters

I’m a miracle 

No, I’m a liar 

I’m a victim

No, I’m a dreamer 

And cause I’m Gazan. 

I am a miracle.

Theme: Love Letters to Palestine

Love Letter to Palestine

To My Toxic Lover, To my homeland

To my Gaza, to my Jerusalem- all Jerusalem. 

I will not say east nor west. 

I will not tear you apart the way they did.

Here’s a love letter to my torture:

Dear Palestine, all Palestine, 

From the river to the sea. 

Your daughter I am , don’t be my stepmother. 

Timid I am before you losses, 

Unyielding because of your strength.

Out of place without you,

Devoid from all graces but you.


Your bloody days, your blown up hearts, 

Your overriding sensation 

Drew my moves, healed my wounds, 

Strengthened my soul.


Your vigorous sea waves, 

Resonating in my mind, 

Nostalgia all I feel 

Memories all I trace 

May I see your glory, freedom and unity.

Theme: Freedom-Huriye-Azadi

I had a dream 

I went back home 

Slept on my bed 

Felt warmth again 

I had a dream 

I went to college 

Nagged all day 

How hectic it was

I had a dream 

I wanted to live

I had a dream 

I had my favourite meal 

I had a dream 

My ear forgot the war’s sounds 

shouting, bombardment, mother’s sobs, and losses 

I had a dream 

My eyes forgot the blood, the loss, the patience 

Obligatory patience 

My nose forgot the smoke smell, the deaths, the corpse rotten 

My hands stopped shivering 

My body skipped what lived 

I had a dream 

Not panicking 

Not imagining death everywhere

I had a dream