The Thief's Bucket List

The year Lord Balfour
inked the fate of millions
in three paragraphs
The thief stole upon
a widow dozing in a walled garden
And ignoring supplications
sawed off her proud braids woven with
gold dowry coins

Leaving her destitute. Shamed.

Years after the Nakba
he kept a worn list
of his victims
When he encountered
one by chance
he would declare, for example:
Abu Ammar! - I stole a chicken from you in 1917
Allow me to repay you now and atone!

Times were hard. Most accepted.

But in 1967 when Um Walid arrived
The black hem of her dress
bearing dust from the Allenby bridge
she spit on his feet
and damned him to hell

Thus foiling his chances of redemption.