A poem in memory of Hiba Abu Nada and Dr. Refaat Alareer. Abu Nada was a beloved figure in the Palestinian literary community and the author of the novel Oxygen is Not for the Dead. She was killed by an Israeli airstrike on October 20. Alareer was a poet, writer, literature professor, and activist. He was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike on December 6.

How do you tell a student who earnestly feels that they are in danger that you think their fears are unfounded or exaggerated? That was the question that came to me in the classroom, and the one that animated this essay. Maybe it’s unnecessary. A group chat of fellow adjuncts and late-term PhDs who share my politics have advised me to keep my head down.