To Remain

Raja Shehadeh on Living through Destruction in Palestine

I have been thinking that people all over the world these days are feeling a sense of despair because, like me, they are seeing the destruction of the world as they knew it. But it has occurred to me that the real destruction of my world happened in 1948, when the Palestinians lost Palestine.

Hoddernot

We posted pictures of ourselves in uniform, desperate to benefit from serving in a war many of us didn’t understand, desperate for a connection and for someone to acknowledge us and, ultimately, acknowledge that a war was going on, that it was real.

Fragments from a Pilgrimage

I came to plunder the past and found, appropriately, only a bit of play history. What did I expect?

No Politics

Rabbi Shmuley went over the ground rules: “We are here to learn from each other, not to argue. Certainly not to compete. Don’t deny anyone’s experience. Don’t deny anyone’s subjectivity. And, of course, no politics.”

The Open Marketplace of the End Times

Today I remembered the last time I looked out the window. This was months ago. Was I braver then—or more childlike? No, not childlike, as children do not look out their windows either. More naive. More stupidly hopeful.

A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words features photography so rich with narrative that it tells a story all on its own.

Back Cover

The Eleventh Street Irregulars

After long afternoons restoring the decrepit boat, we watched trains / pass and deciphered riddles in bottle caps we twisted free / with empty hands and our ready, useless strength.

Soup

At the restaurant with white linens / and candles in glass cups, I remember, / my grandfather sent back the soup.

Puzzle Pieces

He places the misshapen square / in the hole of my face—how easy to complete, to mend us, to turn / what was missing into what is found.