This is a poem for those who cannot be at the protests
This is a walking poem,
not a marching poem.
It is a poem for all those
who cannot be there in person
to walk alongside others
to show support for those suffering
in Gaza, and it’s a poem
for all those people
who find it overwhelming
to be in public, especially
in large groups of people
even if they’d like to show
kinship and participate
in a mass public display
of empathy, in a protest
against the military
state, against the arms trade
and the occupation
of Palestinian lands.
It is for those who would
be there if they could,
but are unwell, or can’t get there,
or have others relying
on them to stay close.
This is a walking poem.
This is not a marching poem
because marching can take
on rhythms that are martial,
though such marching
peaceful marching
counters the martial.
So these marches
have their own poems.
Walking together creates
a circuit of collective
energy that illuminates
and draws others to its
aura without burning them.
Light that is atmospheric
and earthed. That resonates.
It is resolved and committed
and sensitised to the pain
of those on whose behalf
the walking together
is being conducted.
This poem is for those
who can’t be there,
and its lines walk together
and as one, even if it’s
to its own step and to the steps
of all those there on the ground.
This poem is for those
who can’t walk
together on the day
but want to have it known
that they care as deeply.
John Kinsella