For Shaffic Abboud

Shaffic Aboud once might have said
Turqoise
Before there were bombs
There was sky
Palms and boys in black dresses and bare feet
Turning heads on the pier,
Before there was silence
Graffiti artists put kisses
in hearts
or crosses
All of us waited to see what would come next

If this was our picture
We wanted to see it in every paper in the world
On every front page
And say
US
In blue letters
To
in empty spaces
And paint smileys
That show we aren’t scared of life
Before or after
We just want turquoise
For now