I'm Lena Khalaf Tuffaha and I've chosen
to read the poem "Mountain, Stone" this
poem is a an elegy for children who
often go unnamed they are the most
common casualties of wars and they often
go unnamed and unremembered so this is
my effort to really remember them
Mountain stone do not name your
daughter's Shaymaa at courage will march
them into the bullet path of dictators
do not name them Sundus the garden of
paradise calls out to its marigolds
gathers its green leaves up in its
embrace do not name your children Malak
or Raneem angels want the companionship
of others like them their silvery wings
trailing the filth of jail cells the
trill of their laughter a call to prayer
do not name your sons Hamza do not taunt
the torturers whip with promises of
steadfastness do not name your sons
Muhammed Ahed Zakaria Ismail they will
become seashells disappear in the sand
do not name your children let them live
nameless seal their eyelids and sell
their voices to the nightingale do not
name your children and if you must call
them by what withstands this endless
season of decay name the mountains call
them stone
 
