In Gaza

Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue

November 10, 2024

A ten-year-old girl with pink roller skates

wanted to be a dentist

wanted to celebrate her brother's birthday

wanted to forget the latest Nakba

wanted – naturally – to be a kid

go outside – rollerblade

The bomb's shrapnel killed her instantly

The Israeli government released a statement

saying it's always very careful

when it kills tens of thousands of civilians

or a ten-year-old girl with pink roller skates

(Dedicated to the memory of Tala Abu Ajwa)

Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue, a former high school ESL teacher, is an essayist, short story writer, and poet living in beautiful Fort Worth, Texas. He has published over 100 poems in a variety of venues, including The Texas Observer, Concho River Review, Borderlands, California Quarterly, and two anthologies of Texas poetry.