Here’s a placard
Here’s a protest placard
It’s so big you can see it from the moon
It’s made of oceans mountains forest bush
I can see it from my backdoor

I am squatting next to a small girl
squatting next to an old woman
squatting in the Gaza ruins

everything is ruined as far as we can see but
we are looking
at a tiny bud growing

If everyone gives it a drop of water
it will survive, the old woman whispers

If everyone chooses peace
it will grow, says the small girl

Paula Green
from The Venetian Blind Poems, The Cuba Press, due August 2025

Mandy Hager has written an open letter calling for an immediate Gaza ceasefire. She was inspired by writers in UK and Ireland to create a similar letter and collect signatures from other writers and publishers. She writes: “In May 2025, 380 UK and Irish writers signed an open letter calling for an end to this. They have kindly allowed me to use their wording, which, in turn, was adapted from a similar open letter drafted by France’s writers.”

“We refuse to be a public of bystander-approvers.
This is not only about our common humanity and all human rights;
this is about our moral fitness as the writers of our time,
which diminishes with every day we refuse to speak out
and denounce this crime.”

Please note, if you can’t access comments for some reason, you can email Mandy and she will add your name: mandy@mandyhager.com

The letter where you can add your name can be found here. 

Please share with others.