Reminding...

I am in the bus.
It’s crowded, and dark,
while on the highway.
I need to breathe,
to move,
to talk,
but I can’t,
reminding me of my days,
in the past,
in Gaza,
where I was in a dark room,
jammed with my seven siblings,
and my parents, that I missed.
Silent,
listening to shellings,
in that dawn,
on Sunday.
everywhere, outside my family’s home.
In my thoughts, silently, I prayed,
for our safety.

Wave of heating invades the bus,
and there is no air-conditioning.
Passengers’ breaths heat it more,
and more,
reminding me of my summer,
of my beautiful city,
of Gaza.
It was so hot,
with no access to electricity,
only for three hours a day,
or two hours a night,
for a second-hand fan.
I slept my nights in that balcony,
closer to the western window,
to get some fresh air.

The bus is getting so fast.
It’s late, it’s really late.
It’s almost eleven at night.
All of sudden, it’s lightening outside,
and the bus gets slower,
as it’s thundering.
I see raindrops on the bus windows.
Amazed, passengers look all round,
reminding me of Gaza cold nights,
in winter,
when my mom covered me with five blankets,
and I needed more,
in that same dark room,
that had no electricity for the heater.

Mohammed Arafat
21-07-2019