Extinguishing the Peace of the People

In the darkness of a summer night,
the sleepy West Bank town of Duma
wakes up with the deafening sound
of a firebomb.

In a matter of minutes,
the Dawabsheh family home
erupts in a swirl of fire,
lighting up the sky over Duma.
Inside, the dream of a little
toddler, named Ali--
who is yet to see the beauty of the world,
smell the flowers of orchid,
ramble with would-be friends,
take a walk with his elder brother,
Ahmed, in the alleyway of
the Palestinian town, and,
hopefully, grow up loving the
brotherhood between Palestinians and Jews
in a two-state nation--
is extinguished, and so is
the peace of the people of
the Holy Land.