Turn off the lights in every room
sit in the inner hallway of the house
away from the windows
stay away from the stove
stop thinking about making black tea
have a bottle of water nearby
big enough to cool down
children’s fear
get a child’s kindergarten backpack and stuff
tiny toys and whatever amount of money there is
and the ID cards
and photos of late grandparents, aunts, or uncles
and the grandparents’ wedding invitation that’s been kept for a long time
and if you are a farmer, you should put some strawberry seeds
in one pocket
and some soil from
the balcony flowerpot in the other
and hold on tight
to whatever number there was
on the cake
from the last birthday.

Teaching Idea for “What a Gazan Should Do During an Israeli Air Strike”

To better understand the poet and his knowledge of life in Gaza, students might read Mosab Abu Toha’s essay “A Palestinian Poet’s Perilous Journey Out of Gaza” in the New Yorker before reading the poem. Toha captures the urgency and fear of the moment in his poem “What a Gazan Should Do During an Israeli Air Strike.” Partly this is achieved by using short, clear, concise instructions. This is not a pretend list, this list reveals the knowledge gleaned by someone who takes on these tasks, packing the practical — tiny toys, IDs, money — but then he veers into the items that ground his life: photos of late grandparents, his grandparents’ wedding invitation, a packet of strawberry seeds, and dirt. 

Read the poem aloud. (If students read his essay ahead of the poem, ask where his experiences with attempting to flee Gaza show up in the poem.) Ask students to write a quick-write response to the questions: What do Toha’s list and instructions tell you about leaving Gaza? Share students’ responses. 

Ask students to imagine that they are forced to flee their home: What would they take and why? What would their eyes linger on? What would they want to do one last time?  —Linda Christensen