Two Watches

He’s wearing two watches,

one set to the local time in New York,

the other in Gaza. In a café with friends,

waiting for his tea at the round table,

and whenever his eyes fall

on the dial of the Gaza watch, he can see the kids

of his Gaza neighborhood running in the alleys,

girls playing hopscotch, boys

playing soccer.

At night, if the light in the Gaza watch doesn’t work,

he knows electricity is off in his neighborhood.

If the metal case grows warm,

he knows bombs are starting to fall on Gaza.

If the hands of the watch do not move, he knows

a relative or a friend has died

and that the watch won’t work again

until the body is buried.

But what happens if the body is not there anymore?