By Paul Gander
For Iman and Ayoub, Khan Younis, Gaza, Palestine – 13/9/26
Wrong place, wrong time,
Iman sitting in her tent
near Khan Younis,
a single bullet went
into her head, then out the other side.
Iman collapsed. Iman died.
But it’s OK. It’s OK.
Hundreds of women die that way.
Not the place, not the time,
baby Ayoub still inside her.
Doctors found a heartbeat,
lost it a few hours later.
Just weeks from being born,
instead, he’s being mourned.
But it’s OK, really – it’s OK.
Thousands of babies have died that way.
Wrong time, wrong place,
that stray bullet sped
through the wreckage of Khan Younis
into Iman’s tent and head.
It came from nowhere special – nowhere
just happened to be there.
And it’s OK, hey, trust me, it’s OK.
So very many bullets will kill that way.
