The time is no longer

Global Sumus Flotilla set sail from Barcelona, Spain August 31, 2025.

the time is no longer
for us
to be passers-by
of an ethnic cleansing

the time is no longer
to feel
the tears we cry
will wipe away the killing

the time is no longer
for endless debate
and
esoteric words
about whether
to call it a genocide

the time is no longer
to feel
we are powerless
and out of work

it is not too late
to support those who embarked
on fragile arks
facing Israeli drones
and
to do the job
while inhuman governments
looking the other way
sit idly
on the edge of their swimming pools

it is not too late
to let those redundant governments know
who is really on the dole

we have become
Flotilla-fighters
and our salary
will be
Palestine’s victory

the time is no longer
for us
to sit on the dock of the bay
to watch
the Flotilla go by

Love eats away your death – a poem for Assata

you are the Mother
of all ancestors

you let us know
our dead
as many as they are
have lost their shackles
and
though we weep
we can let them sleep

you reminded us
that the living
those still chained
throughout the darkened dungeons
need all our energy
because they are alive
and
can still be saved
from tortuous pain

but you –
you are alive
in our hearts

but you –
you walk at our side

but you –
you whisper to us
that just as Love
eats away
all bars,
Love
eats away
your death

The ants we are

studies
of ant colonies
show
that not all ants
work

there is
on standby
a reserve of ants
that moves in
only if
the current worker ants
are
attacked

the Israeli navy
may have
invalidated
thirteen vessels
of the Flotilla
but,
armed with Sumood,
a reserve
of thirty boats
sails on
bearing
not only aid
but with it
Hope’s food

The Flotilla Plows On

a whole people
as wounded
as maimed
as blinded
as starved
as it may be
has gathered
on Gaza beach

a whole people
is drawn
to forbidden waters

a whole people
wades
into
the waves

a whole people
cries tears
of joy
and hope
and rage

the sand
mixed with the dust of bones
bears messages
of welcome

the horizon is still empty
and the homerun will be risky
but,
replacing absentee escorts
by government decree,
the Peoples of the world
are rising up
as
the remaining vessels of the Flotilla
are plowing on to Gaza
reclaiming the land of the sea

Next time has already sailed

(…)
And I believe that a lost ship,
Steered by tired, seasick sailors,
Can still be guided home
To port.

Affirmation, Assata Shakur, RIP

tell the children
those who
were waiting
and praying
and dancing
on the sand –
tell the children :
No,
the absence of Flotilla boats
that was a mirage

tell the children

tell the children
who waited
for weeks
and days
and hours
near the sea
for you to arrive

tell them
you were really there

tell the children
they could not see you
but you were there
just within the red line
on the horizon
rising with their sun

tell the children
that though broken
and almost sinking
you warmed them
with your rays

tell the children
next time
has already sailed

It takes one single ship

“Interception is a tactic. Solidarity is a movement. A 100 ships today, a 1000 tomorrow. Freedom will find the sea”
On the real time chat as the Marinette sailed on in Palestinian waters.

tell the children
your children
in the Global North
to sit down
not like
the shackled Flotilla hostages
Ben Gvir
claims are terrorists –
no,
tell them
to sit cross-legged
to hear a story
a story
that will be their legacy

as you show your children
the tense suspense of the footage
and the grim illegal onslaught
by the Israeli Navy
you can begin softly …

once upon a time
there was a Flotilla
bringing
milk and life
to famished Palestinian children

once upon a time
the dolphins
escort the ships
when high falutin’ government
upon government
falter

once upon a time
a single ship
reaches
forbidden Gaza water
breaking the zionist siege
and the Israeli myth
of invincibility

once upon a time
other ships are following
in waves
more and more of them
sailing

once upon a time
Gaza fishermen can catch
fish freely
because the IOF
are too busy

once upon a time
streets around the world
are flooded
with the waves
of our humanity

once upon a time
the children on Gaza’s shore
put on hope-jackets
to swim towards
the ships
they colored in their drawings

a child
our child perhaps
laughs with delight
and interrupts,
ending the story
with these words :
so this is no fairy tale,
it is really happening!

Early Friday, the flotilla announced on Instagram that ”Marinette, the last remaining boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, was intercepted at 10:29 am local time, approximately 42.5 nautical miles from Gaza.”
Common Dreams

Fighting Words

Journal of the Communist Workers league

The time is no longer | Love eats away your death | The ants we are | The Flotilla plows on | Next time has already sailed | It takes one single ship

Poems by renowned Black leader and activist Julia Wright

The Time is no longer