PALESTINE IN ATHENS:
JUNICHI SEMITSU
For June, Naomi, Dima & Suheir, who first introduced me to the people of Palestine
For opening ceremonies
I want athletes from Palestine in line
between those from Pakistan & Panama
waiting to enter the gates of the Coliseum
the only security checkpoint they know
I want Muhammad Ali to light
the Olympic torch & burn
every security fence in Gaza Strip
I want Bela Karolyi to carry
the next Keri Strug from Nabulus
the first Palestinian girl to need crutches
for reasons unrelated to war
I want every government
that ignored UN Resolution 242
to watch that red black green & white flag
rise so many times
they can’t help humming the Anthem of the Intifada
I want the Flo-Jo of Jenin
sporting a hijab on a box of Wheaties
a hockey team sporting kuffiyehs
on the cover of Sports Illustrated
& Teen People pre-occupied with pole vaulters
from a post-occupied Palestine
I want Yassir Arafat to look into luge
I want airport security to suspect every Palestinian
of being a world record holder
& march them through gold medal detectors
I want to watch the Jesse Owens of Jerusalem
leave more smoke than a M203 grenade
the Randy Barnes of Bethlehem
fire shot puts farther than forty F16 missiles
the Marion Jones of Jericho
jump hurdles the height of 100 apartheid walls
for total Palestinian track & field domination
bringing home so much gold
the West Bank becomes the Bank of the West
& Fort Knox gets jealous
So let the Games begin
when the occupation ends
because I want the Olympic congregation
to recognize a nation
named
Palestine