Something About Living

The brilliant third collection from Tuffaha (Kaan and Her Sisters), who is of Palestinian, Jordanian, and Syrian descent, evokes the weight of a homeland’s genocide, but is equally about the joys of heritage and the righteous pursuit of justice for one’s oppressed brothers and sisters. She eloquently captures the dichotomy of pain and comfort: “Be it a home;/ ancient breath and second/ letter of ancestry. Home of unripe figs// or of suffering?” In “Triptych,” Tuffaha alternates language from the UN’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights with phrasing from an Israeli tourism ad (“No one belongs here more than you do”), highlighting the inherent disconnect between this welcoming attitude and the violent displacement of Palestinians from the region. She further castigates American politicians and activists who feign sympathy for the plight of the colonized while doing nothing to stop their violent oppression: “I thought of the word/ I have come to hate most in English/ which is peace/ because it is always pointed at my skull.” Tuffaha is defiant in the face of devastation, declaring in “Threads”: “Let us plan// to decolonize our spaces... Let us plan, brothers and sisters,/ a museum heist or a freedom march... You cannot swallow a life/ this large.” This superb volume sings of those determined to fight for a fairer future. (Apr.)