Little girl. Little girl.
Little dark eyed dark haired girl
lies shot.
Dark red blood in wavy hair.
Skull broken.
I'm a Brit, the day's daring
soldier, south in Palestine,
but at night alone, sad,
just a boy, mama's little lad.
My sin is great. Oh my sister.
I swear, it was an accident.
Like a dagger it cut the heart,
my heart, oh, my sister,
forgive me, forgive me, so sad,
my child, my child.
I meant to shoot your dad.
-- "Accidental Shooting in Palestine" by Kristjan fra Djupalaek. From In the Vineyard, a collection of poems, 1966. (via Huffpost)
Photos:
1. Eight-year-old Aya Hamdan al-Najjar from the village of Khuza'a in the southern Gaza Strip.
2.
The collected body parts of eight-year-old Aya Hamdan al-Najjar, who was struck while playing in front of her house by a missile fired from an Israeli Apache helicopter, 6 June 2008. (via Guerilla Radio).