International Poetry Circle

Feeling isolated? You're not alone. Join #InternationalPoetryCircle: video poems by poets and poetry lovers. Record. Share. Enjoy. (Founded by @TaraSkurtu.)

[International Poetry Circle @IntPoetryCircle]

Welcome to the #InternationalPoetryCircle!

Here's where it began on March 15th – with @TaraSkurtu inviting people to connect through poetry at a time when unprecedented social isolation is vital to save lives worldwide.

This account will RT all videos tweeted to the hashtag.

[Tara Skurtu @TaraSkurtu]

This unprecedented time of social distancing is a very lonely one. We need each other. People often turn to poetry in tough times, so I’m starting Poetry Circle—a growing thread of people reading their poems and their favorite poems. Here’s my introduction (1st poem will follow):

[The IMEU @theIMEU]

Missouri is set to execute Marcellus Williams today at 6 p.m. CT despite evidence of his innocence. Marcellus, a father and imam, wrote the below poem for the children of Gaza while imprisoned.

Text Marcellus to 97016 to help save his life and keep urging @GovParsonMO to let Marcellus live.

[Omar Hamad | عُـمَـرْ 𓂆 @OmarHamadD]

Between the sound of the sea and the sound of war, the voice of poetry prevails.

[Tara Skurtu @TaraSkurtu]

TAKE ACTION for @freedom_theatre producer Mustafa Sheta:
https://t.co/lHieYit5Xc
#FreeMustafaSheta

[Tara Skurtu @TaraSkurtu]

Culture is a form of resistance. Art is a form of resistance. Solidarity with @freedom_theatre. We demand the release of The Freedom Theatre Producer Mustafa Sheta, who was taken by the IOF on Dec 13. Permanent Ceasefire Now. Free Palestine.

Artists, writers, poets, speak up!📢

[International Poetry Circle @IntPoetryCircle]

CALL TO ACTION, poets and poetry lovers!

[Mosab Abu Toha @MosabAbuToha]

Everyone post
Ceasefire Now
🍓

[Arao AMENY @araoameny]

The Moon by @MosabAbuToha

[Mosab Abu Toha @MosabAbuToha]

Letter to the pilot returning to base after bombing Gaza (poem by Nasser Rabah) https://t.co/fvncK1UrsH

[In Context @incontextmedia]

Game of Thrones stars and other actors read South Africa's case file charging Israel with genocide at the #ICJ

[Ambassador Majed Bamya 🇵🇸 @majedbamya]

I wrote this poem two months ago. Never thought that the massacres would still be ongoing two months later…

The last poem

Kill them, kill them all,
So you can finally go to sleep
Only idiots fear the ghosts
So go ahead take a leap
Remember to leave your faith behind
Or to distort God’s words
To fit your crimes

Remember, they are all monsters
It’s alright
And don’t falter
When they ask you
“What about the child”
He is a monster to be
You just made sure to save him
From what he would have become
The ungrateful did not even thank you
For the gift of a bomb

Kill them, north and south,
Left and right
They are murderers
You are a hero
Who can challenge
Your divine right
They die because they love death
You kill because you love life

How can anyone even compare
Don’t they see you drop your bombs
From the air,
with angel wings
It is different
as you did not stare
your victim in the eye
Your aim was graceful
and blind

They are different
they cheered the monsters
For their horrific crimes
Forget the soldiers’ songs and the crowds chants
“No ceasefire no ceasefire”
So humane,
in the face of the barbaric
“Free Palestine”

Kill them, kill them all,
You have a right to be safe
Ask your victims as they grasp for air
“Why didn’t you leave, condemn, behave”
Explain to them that your people are killed
Mine only lose their life, on the side of the road,
And never come back to pick it up.

Kill them, they started it.
So ask them once you are done
“Why do you hate us,
You children of darkness
Who can’t stand the sun”
Kill them again and again
It is your right
In the name of “Never again”

If they tell you about the laws
Tell them
That who you are means you can do no wrong
And who they are means they can never get it right
That you alone here belong
And they are an unwelcome sight

Kill them, they are monsters
Then say you are sorry they had to die
That is the difference between you and them
You have learned the value of a lie
Kill all the monsters one by one
Except the one that lies within
You are a child of the sun
To no one shall you listen

Not to their screams, not to their tears,
Not to their rights, not to history’s lessons,
Not to the world, not to your heart,
Not to your daughters, not to your sons,
And all over again we shall start
One generation after the other
Why save them
When they can kill each other

Kill them, kill them all,
You did it so many times before
No one will judge you
And you firmly believe
God is on your side
No matter how many times I tell you
To you they lied
I thought hatred could be destroyed
If only we opened our eyes
But I can only see despair
Do words still matter
When faced with such a void

Since it’s so unbearable
To live together
side by side
Kill me and go to sleep
I am sure you don’t mind
Having one more ghost
By your bedside.

[Hebh Jamal @hebh_jamal]

Ya Allah my heart. Journalist @ahmedhijazee reciting my uncle, Ghazi Al Jamal’s poem to the late Hamza Al Dahdouh…

I can’t stop crying.

[International Poetry Circle @IntPoetryCircle]

Call to action for humanity.

[Tara Skurtu @TaraSkurtu]

Calling all poetry lovers (humans everywhere). Be for humanity. Call for ceasefire. Call for an end to genocide.

[Tara Skurtu @TaraSkurtu]

Calling all poetry lovers (humans everywhere). Be for humanity. Call for ceasefire. Call for an end to genocide.

[Mosab Abu Toha @MosabAbuToha]

I wrote this poem “If I Am Going To Die” on November 9, a few days after Refaat Alareer posted his poem “If I Must Die” and a month before he was murdered.
May his soul rest in peace. @itranslate123

[r.d.j. @_rdjohnson_]

🚨 SPOKEN WORD ALERT 🚨

24, a new piece found in my new book, Second Session: Audio Therapy Part II. Available now at Barnes & Noble and my website https://t.co/SyZkowj32D. Order your copy today!

#writing #spokenword #poetry

[Palestine Festival of Literature @PalFest]

Brian Cox reads If I Must Die, by beloved Palestinian poet, teacher and martyr Refaat Alareer.

Refaat was killed on December 7th by an Israeli airstrike.

This was the last poem he published.