Poem for Rasmea Odeh

To my Palestinian women
You are beautiful 
You are kind
And you are strong
You are everything of Palestine
You are Palestine in her own very human form

You are a woman who never stops fighting
A powerhouse
You are a community leader
Every time I’m around you my heart feels as though it’s about to burst
You are a revolution in its simplest form
A beauty
A reckoning
A light of hope
And every time I’m around you my heart is full, ready to burst and unable to speak
You make me want to scream for revolution
To fight for our freedom
You are the woman who has brought Palestine to chicago
Your very soul, your heart is a key in the shape of our freedom
You are history in the making
I only pray that one day I can represent Palestine with such strength as you do
I only hope that one day I can inspire young women as much as you’ve inspired me

Rasmea, you are our mother

Rasmea Odeh has taught me to keep fighting for justice even if I am fighting alone.
Because in truth, we are not alone
We are fighting together
For the same dream, the same vision, with the same drive for the same reasons
Palestine, she is waiting for us
And when I’ve lost all my energy and all my faith in this dream, you have reminded me that Palestine needs me and she’s calling out to me
Palestine is calling out to me through you

She has been waiting patiently
But no more should she wait because our time for freedom is now

 فلسطين الحرة و الحرة و بس
فش اشي غيرها
احنا الفلسطينية
و فش قوة أقوى منا
الحياة فرص
و فرصتنا هلا

I promise to keep going
I promise to never forget my blood, my home, my people
This community – all of us – we are holding our hands tight with our fingers wrapped around to show we cannot be broken
And you, Rasmea, you are the glue that holds this community together, reminding us why we started in the first place
I am here for my friends, my people,
I am here for you

And, we are all here for Palestine
Because, Palestine is in us and we are all within Palestine – held close, held together, and held with love and strength
We the people, we are Palestine.