Kim Malinowski

When I do not Know

I do not know a thing about Israel.
I do not know anything about Palestine.
I have wiped blood and spittle from dying mouths.
I have held cooling hands in my palms,
waiting for a pulse.
I learned that prayers comfort only the living.
How do I explain that in every bigness
there is the miniscule, the way a morsel
tastes of manna because it eases
the belly, and how bright draped cloth
comforts weary skin, and how even if I knew
history, I wouldn’t understand killing,
because I know death well,
and he does not comfort me?

 

Kim Malinowski is a lover of words. Her collection Home was published by Kelsay Books. Her verse novel Phantom Reflection was published by Silver Bow Publishing. Buffy's House of Mirrors was published by Q, and imprint of Querencia Press and The Fool's Journey is forthcoming from Vraeyda Literary. In 2024, her verse novel We Could Be Lovers is forthcoming from Nightingale & Sparrow Publishing. Her chapbook Death: A Love Story was published by Flutter Press.