**A Poem by Anies Ghuneimah**

Hello

Hello, useless world,
men, women, and children,
and savage animals.

O life at twenty,
the scars in the heart,
and all the scratches.

O poets,
hello my good masters,
my enemies always,
and friends forever.

Who knows,
maybe we are an anthem of the past,
no matter how high the roof we’re on,
we are lower than a foothold.

Who knows,
maybe we are nothing but our images,
that were extinguished by water,
before we even looked.

(date unknown, translated by wael sawah in 2023)

anies ghuneimah was born in gaza city in 1992, and currently lives there.

source: https://www.penopp.org/articles/poems-anis-ghuneimah?language_content_entity=en