counting and

I leaned out of the window, stretching my body upward as a four-year old kid counting stars in  mid June,

We’ve passed Shuaafat and moved adjacentely to the separation wall

with all it’s might.

It was closing on us, engulfing us in it’s own ominous world.

I should’ve thought of the woman who died yesterday in Bethlhem checkpoint because of the teargas

Or of Saje Darwish

Or of how many Palestinian had been killed since negotiations embarked

Or of Soha who couldn’t renovate her house without a permit

I ought to think of the endless sorrows

yet I counted

One Two…. Ninteen

footballs and basketballs trapped between the throes of the wire fence

striving for breath to get back

to give life to bereaved children

I lost counting after twenty one, and

counting on

I thought of going back to recount

but then I remembered the infinite wall and it’s countless souls.

I gave up counting.