Our Monthly Poetry Collection is published on the first Tuesday of each month and curated by Palestinian-American poet and UPA supporter Zeina Azzam. 

For the month of June, we feature “Running Orders,” by Palestinian poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. 

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s poem, “Running Orders,” was actually composed in 2014 during Israel’s war on Gaza of July-August of that year. Written from the point of view of a civilian who is given 58 seconds to flee before Israel’s bombs would destroy their family’s house, the poem captures the vulnerability, cruelty, and injustice that people in Gaza faced, and continue to face, until the present. Sadly, this poem rings true today, after Israel’s latest attack on Gaza in May 2021, during which at least 253 Palestinians—of whom 66 were children—were killed. “Running Orders” was reposted on social media and translated and recited internationally during the past several weeks. 

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha has Palestinian, Jordanian, and Syrian heritage. She is an award-winning and accomplished poet, essayist, and translator. Her writings have been published widely in literary journals and anthologies; her poetry books include Water and Salt and Arab in Newsland. Tuffaha translated the screenplay for the feature film, When I Saw You, directed by Annemarie Jacir. On her website she writes that she “is passionate about poetry, the perfect cup of coffee, travel, language, freedom and quality, and gardening.” Tuffaha lives with her family in Washington state. 

Click here to read the complete poem! 

About Zeina Azzam 

Zeina Azzam is a Palestinian American poet, writer, editor, and community activist. Her poems are published widely in literary journals, anthologies, and edited volumes. Zeina’s chapbook, Bayna Bayna, In-Between, was released by The Poetry Box on May 18, 2021. She holds an M.A. in Arabic literature from Georgetown University.