Kidnapped by Hamas: Emilia Alony and her family

 

Emilia Alony

At the Kibbutz of Nir Oz

we were looking for the aroma of the fig trees

we drank pomegranate juice

we were hiding in the orange orchard

and in the beautiful sunflower meadow

*

One morning we also met

in the sealed room

we prayed while the bullets whizzed

We prayed while we felt the fire devour what was ours

We cried when we left there between panic and rockets

  *

I introduce myself:

I'm Emilia, I'm five years old.

I've been surviving under the sand for three weeks

I am a hostage in a war that I do not understand

I barely breathe under the weight of my tears

Those of my cousins Yuli and Emma

My mother Danielle's

Those of my uncles Sharon and David

*

It was a nice weekend at Aunt Sharon's house.

and now captors and bombs catch me

verses of fire

memories of bright mornings

tenderness of my twin cousins

who at three years old live the war like a dream

nightmare spun by death

*

From time to time explosions shake the earth

I think the rescue is coming

We all sing

Singing keeps us human

Restrain fears

Dissolve the reality of hell

*

Will there be another Hanukkah for me?

A round next to Jasmine?

A first day at school?

A hug from my father in spring?

Sharon Alony Cunio, 33, and her husband David Cunio, 34, and their twin daughters, Yuli and Emma, 3

Danielle and Emilia