“It’s a Steal.”
A Poem by Seema Jilani
New Work by the Doctor, Humanitarian Aid Worker, and Writer
attention investors / fixer upper oasis on the Med / erected
_________on remnants of sacred souls / complimentary essential
oils / purge the stench of rotting flesh / chef’s kitchen / maqlouba
_________still warm / backgammon mid-game
savor morning kahva / private balcony / overlooking
_________corpses / alarm clock / ocean of weeping mothers /
vintage carnage / plantation shutters / no sage tea burnt /
_________secret passageways / clandestine graves / tick tock
cat cafés / no kittens / fill the hot tub with leftover blood / still
_________warm, frothy / a shattered tibia / found in the
childrens’ playroom / bury the skulls deeper / floor boards
_________don’t lie / DIY skeleton hospitals / schools included
paint the baby room cyan / we have enough red / save the dolls /
_________pink booties too / plant the all are welcome sign / slim
rainbow font / local orphans / available for landscaping / will work
_________for wheelchairs / countertops with genuine human bone inlay
private olive grove / roots endure / relentless / undaunted / inexorable / extermination ongoing
listing price_________30k children_________digital keys only_________non-negotiable
Seema Jilani
Seema Jilani is a pediatric hospitalist at Texas Children’s Hospital and has worked in war zones for over twenty years, including in Gaza and the West Bank, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, postwar Bosnia, on refugee rescue boats in the Libyan Sea, and on medical evacuation flights for critically ill children. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, the New York Times, NPR, and The Guardian. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was accepted into both the Bread Loaf Writers’ Workshop and Tin House Writers’ Workshop.
