Denise Phé-Funchal

Nov 28, 2023 | wordswithoutborders.org | Hubert Klimko-Dobrzaniecki |Denise Phé-Funchal |Tobias Carroll |Alexander Aguayo

Here I am again. They say that talking, talking about events from across one’s entire life, will make things easier. Yesterday, right after I left here, I cycled to Sandvig. I still remember how we used to go there together when I was little. A small, peaceful bay. Some sand on the one side, and on the other, toward the cliff, just flat rocks. I was always drawn to the rocks. I didn’t like the sand, it seemed so rough and scratchy. When I lay down on it, I felt like I was lying on sandpaper.

Nov 14, 2023 | wordswithoutborders.org | Sinan Antoon |Ibtisam Azem |Denise Phé-Funchal |Susan Harris

[For Gaza’s children]     My father’s warm palms shielded my ears. I could hear his blood racing in his veins. As if being chased by the bombs falling outside. My mother’s lips fluttered like a terrified butterfly. She was talking to God and asking him to protect us. That’s what she did during the last war. And he listened. Her arms were clasped around my two sisters. Maybe God could not hear her this time. The bombing was so loud. After our house in Jabalia was destroyed we hid in the UNRWA school.

Nov 14, 2023 | wordswithoutborders.org | Sinan Antoon |Ibtisam Azem |Denise Phé-Funchal |Susan Harris

[For Gaza’s children]My father’s warm palms shielded my ears. I could hear his blood racing in his veins. As if being chased by the bombs falling outside. My mother’s lips fluttered like a terrified butterfly. She was talking to God and asking him to protect us. That’s what she did during the last war. And he listened. Her arms were clasped around my two sisters. Maybe God could not hear her this time. The bombing was so loud. After our house in Jabalia was destroyed we hid in the UNRWA school.

Oct 11, 2023 | wordswithoutborders.org | Denise Phé-Funchal |Ruth Kemp |Kelly Zhang |Hongyu Zhu

For QuiqueWe returned under the usual sun, the one that stuck the tiniest of needles all over my body from sunup until the final seconds before it disappeared behind Grandma’s house. We walked back in silence, bringing up the rear, Mama holding my hand, and I could feel how her tears ran down her cheeks to her neck and then down her arms before reaching our hands.