At the request of Scottish PEN member Heather Kiernan, working with the Hands Up Project, Scottish PEN organised a call-out to Scottish poets to respond to ‘Moon Tell Me Truth’, illustrated poems by children in Gaza exhibited at the Scottish Poetry Library during June. Heather, Jenni Calder and former Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca got together to edit and produce the resulting pamphlet featuring poems from twelve Scottish poets, three of the exhibited poems from Gaza and three poems by children from the Royal Mile Primary School, just along the road from the Poetry Library. Their work was the result of workshops conducted with Primary 6 pupils by Iyad Hayatley, a Palestinian poet who has been a citizen of Scotland for many years.
Come Here was launched with a reading at the Poetry Library on 13 June. A deeply appreciative audience listened to poems read by Jim Aitchison, Jenni Daiches, Christine De Luca. Bashabi Fraser, Iyad Hayatleh, Hugh McMillan and Ruth Reid. Contributors Linda Cracknell, Jim Macintosh, John McMahon, Julie McNeill and Marie-Therese Taylor were unable to be present. Their poems, and poems by Hala Joha, Nada Miqdad and Remas Mohamed Zouraba from Gaza were read by actor and playwright Gowan Calder. Young Makar Caitlin Sherret read poems by Inaya Bilal, Lorina Dreshaj and Azima Yusuf from the Royal Mile Primary School.
It was a moving and memorable occasion. The poems, and the poems featured in the exhibition, reminded us of how crucial it is for children to find a way of expressing their hopes and fears, and equally crucial for the grown-ups. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of the tragedy in Gaza and to say, what difference will a poem make. But these poems are expressions of shared humanity, and for that reason, if for no other, we should value them.
Come Here: Scottish Poets Respond to the Children of Gaza is available via the Scottish Poetry Library website www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk. Proceeds from sales will be donated to Scottish PEN.