Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta - Dr Gina Mercer
The poem, Al Shifa Arrivals by Gina Mercer is written in response to the following tweet by Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta @GhassanAbuSitt1:
9.24pm, 13/11/2023
“We believe in life. Even in the midst of all this death. May he see better days and grow up to be a free man.”
These words accompanied by image of newborn enfolded in beautiful clothes and clean white wrappings with loving hand caressing his forehead.
Al Shifa Arrivals
she rocks
encircled in a serene sphere
cherished by her mother’s breathing
she grows
rounded and sound
complete and intricate
she arrives
it’s her time
to unfurl
missile arrives
she gets registered among the dead
before she gets a birth certificate
Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta is a British-Palestinian surgeon currently treating the wounded as well as delivering live reports from at Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital. He is a multi-award-winning Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, with a reputation as one of the world’s leading specialists in trauma-related injuries, craniofacial surgery, cleft lip and palate surgery. Based in London, he travels for humanitarian reasons to work in various war zones including Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
Dr Gina Mercer grew up on unceded Bundjalung country where her mother immersed her in the joy of word play. This gifted Gina a career working with words – as writer, editor, mentor, teacher. She’s taught writing in universities and communities for over thirty years. She was the Editor of Island magazine from 2006-2010. Gina has published eleven books. In 2019, Dr Terry Whitebeach and Gina co-published The Sky Falls Down: An Anthology of Loss, Ginninderra Press. Her two most recent poetry collections are: Weaving Nests with Smoke and Stone (2015) and Watermark (2022).
Olive branches with a few olives reach across a pale beige sky.
