i’m at the centre of something and yes, i can break through the plastic barrier of the thing i’m

in but then i will just be trapped again, this time in something bigger, and this process will go

on and on like a perfectly looped video: you are in a cocoon; you shed the cocoon; you

notice a clear film closing in on you; you are being vacuum packed again; the layers never

stop existing.
this is how i feel about politics and echo chambers
raw onions in your mouth: intrusive

and they stick like permanence

and then you add fire

and they are covered in soot

and they crumble

and they are like molasses: sweet

and they are like butter: slipping in and out
when i am in PALESTINE we wake up every day to the smell of sugar

from the bakery/ies downstairs and i feel sick like i am going to vomit
i want you to recall all the pictures

of    pelicans    after    an    oil    spill

the ones that went viral for a week

then stopped circulating
because traveling when you’re coated in thick diesel slip

cannot last forever. we get tired. we all have to settle eventually
         1.    stop moving around so much

                      a.   are you trying to go home?

                                   i.    yes

                                                ١.    so…you’re finding somewhere new?

                                                ٢.    so…you’re returning?

                                   ii.    no

                                                ١.    good
go camping and get trapped in a place with no phone reception

(why are all your stories about being in places with no phone reception?)

when the boyfriend of the friend whose birthday you’re celebrating says

[ISRAEL]

alongside [REDACTED]

and alongside [REDACTED]

and alongside [R E _ _ D _ A C _ _ T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ D]

get more trapped than you were before
you are in a box now

you are always in a box that’s just how things work

but this one isn’t the right one
this is how i feel about politics and echo chambers
         you     are      in     a      box     now

         and the box is a yellow dumpster

         on     jamal  abdel  nasser    street

         you       are      a       cattle      egret

         in        a        yellow         dumpster

         on     jamal  abdel  nasser    street

         even though  you’re  a waterbird

         and   Jenin   is   forty   kilometres

         from                                        water

         in         either                    direction