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A new project looks to tap into the hope that comes with finally getting a COVID-19 vaccine through poetry.

The Global Vaccine Poem: Do You See Us

Mosab Abu Toha

My name is Mosab Abu Toha, and I’m a bilingual Palestinian poet from Gaza. Maybe unlike other parts in the world, Gaza has been in lockdown for many years. As a result, only a very small number of people could get the vaccine shots which were allowed to enter Gaza. I haven’t yet received mine. Here is my poem:

Dear vaccine,

do you see us?

We know we are insignificant

in this universe,

but we want to walk on the streets,

unafraid to show our smiles to others passing by.

We promise we will be kind

to nature, to our fellow trees and seas,

to the sand and rocks,

to the ants sleeping near our books.

Do you not wish to watch us sing to our kids

on swings?

Do you not know how much the parks miss

the dogs as they run after a ball? How much fun

they would have jumping in a mall?

Dear vaccine, when you enter our bodies,

you will enjoy our lives

because we will be

better humans.