Car Bomb on a Sunny Street in Beirut, 1986
by Laurel Moran
(First Place • Poetry)

Inspired by the story of Samira Shunback and her sons, as depicted in the book Lebanon: Shot Twice, by Zaven Kouyoumdjian and Hayat Karanouh

My sweet son Khaled –
his pink fingertips touch
every parked car
on Afif El Tibbeh
as he floats
above the sidewalk,
his little boy voice
a whisper
from dreams.

My strong fingers
overlap
on his wrist
and I chide him
to look up from his haze
and leave the faded
cars to the sun.

Khaled holds the
grimy hand of
the city and grazes
the Mercedes 190
singing the
songs of the young.

His are the songs I still hear at night.

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