In cold blood
in plain sight
you let the monstrous genociders murder my little Layla
I cannot let go, I cannot let go.
Her lifeless body
her bloodied skull
shattered by sniper bullets, soaked in settler brutality.
I cannot let go, I cannot let go.
Snatched away so violently
before she could savor the marvels of life
even before she knew what it means to die
I cannot let go, I cannot let go.
My little Layla
and thousands of other children
killed with the most lethal weapons and 2000 pound bombs.
I cannot let go, I will not let go.
Cruel world, you are not worthy of forgiveness.
Cruel world, you are not worthy of forgiveness.
Two-year-old Layla Khateeb was killed on January 26th, 2025 by Israeli snipers as part of Israel’s settler colonial incursion in the West Bank called Operation Iron Wall. This poem is in memory of Layla Khateeb (who has the same first name as my daughter) and thousands of other children who have been killed with impunity by the Israeli Zionist genocidal campaign and settler colonial regime. Photo by Palestinian journalist Wahaj Bani Moufleh.