my people

my people are dying

they don’t look like me, except some of them do?
they have hearts and minds
and their eyes have souls just like mine
do you see yourself when you look into them too?

my people are dying
except we don’t speak the same language
so we talk in laughs and cries
and it’s just fine
but i don’t know how to say “i’m sorry”
i’m sad, i don’t think they’ll forgive me this time

my people are dying
we don’t believe in all of the same things
like they have a god and i have a god
but both of them seem to be missing

my people are dying
but they are so different from me:
mothers and fathers
they’re smarter than me:
poets and scholars
they’re more resilient than me:
freedom fighters

tomorrow the rocks will speak
the trees will too
once again the souls in our eyes will meet
our lips will be forced to say the truth

but not today because

my people are dead.

an apology to the people of palestine, pakistan, and the oppressed everywhere
may 7th, 2025