"Sumud, Or the Steadfast Sail to Gaza" by Julia Brookes

Sumud, Or the Steadfast Sail to Gaza

When I think of boats whose job it is to transport goods

from one end of the world to the other—

car batteries and canned beans and petroleum—

I often think of the plastic towers and blue cranes

of the Port of Los Angeles. Shipping containers stacked end to end

and top to top. An overabundance of goods, and bads.

The sick of our unfettered capitalism made plain.

On the shores of Gaza, survivors sculpt words of welcome

into the sand. Even in the crumpled remains of their homes,

Palestinians open their doors wide, ever the most hospitable hosts.

Even after years of demolitions and forced removals,

of holding their keys close to their chests, hoping to slip

them back in their front doors one day, a homecoming;

of next door neighbors dangling their housewarming gifts

just out of reach like a school yard bully who's stolen their lunch.

Gaza still reaches her hands out, palms up in welcome to

Sumud who comes bearing baskets of friendship and baby formula

and eyes wide open. Tug tugging along, not just one little steadfast boat

but a fleet this time—greens, reds, whites, blacks flying,

flapping in the Mediterranean breeze, forty-four countries all raising

the same flag, the sea breeze carrying them closer,

all eyes ahead on Gaza. All eyes on the global flotilla. Little boats keep

sailing against the tide of drone strikes and terror cell threats.

A solid block of hope. And I think—what if we started shipping more

than just stuff to the other side of the world? What if, unlike Pandora,

we opened the shipping containers and the Amazon boxes to find

something else instead? Witness more nourishing than almonds,

solidarity just as sustaining as olives, a different kind of oil flowing into the sea.

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11/18/2025

Julia Brookes (she/her) is a disabled poet and educator in San Diego, California. Her work often confronts systemic injustice, drawing on lived experiences. She teaches middle school English and Social Studies, empowering students to engage critically with the world. Her work is also forthcoming in Writers Resist and the San Diego Poetry Annual.