Welcome to “Poetry at The Arts Fuse.” A new poem every Thursday

Al-Shifa

            for Palestine

Fluorescent grey was required
if any else remained
There were trees of phonics
and castles burned into stardust
The sea foam whistled Berlioz
or something like it from the heart’s tear
It was ceremony in most cases
traditions and formalities
The emptiness swallowed everything
There isn’t even death when everything is gone
There isn’t even death. Forever
watching people rise and float
The sky imperfect all the way to the sea
Forever. The sea and it’s requiem

Sunnylyn Thibodeaux is the author of five full length collections of poetry, as well as over a dozen small books including Witch Like Me from The Operating System. She is the mother of a Scorpio and wife of a poet and splits her time between San Francisco and New Orleans. In 2026 City Lights will publish her selected poems.

Note: Hey poets! We seek submissions of excellent poetry from across the length and breadth of contemporary poetics. See submission guidelines here. The arbiter of the feature is the magazine’s poetry editor, John Mulrooney.

— Arts Fuse editor Bill Marx