The New Sport

The children are playing football in the camp,
imitating the moves of their sports heroes,
and then they hear a noise like thunder,
furious as the roar of the rain god on a stormy night.

Helter skelter they run,
as the monster of steel approaches,
bullet start flying in the air,
a man appears from the belly of the beast.

Strong he stands with his head high,
he is a protector of the ancient city,
at least that is what he thinks he is.

"Come out", he screams through the speakers,
"O dogs of Khan Younis",
suddenly he eyes the children,
running away, trying to find a place to hide in vain.

He is disturbed by the stones thrown at his resting place last night,
taken over by rage and hatred,
he fires rounds of bullets at the absconding targets,
and they fall like dry leaves in the winter,
the star of David rises high, again.

The monster moves around a bit,
and then disappears,
leaving behind a sea of blood,
a sound of mourning mothers can soon be heard.

No one worries about the football any more,
no one feels like scoring a goal,
they just learnt about the new game from the other side,
where their players are hunted down for sport.