QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE DEAD
regarding repatriation by the Conciliation Commission
1
Do you prefer to return
to what is now our world, whether or not
you could inhabit your former home?
2
If you prefer not to return,
indicate in order of preference
other worlds where you would like to live.
3
If your preference is to return, would you agree
to live at peace with the living
as a law-abiding resident of our world?
Note:
This poem is loosely based on a questionnaire prepared by the UN’s Palestine Conciliation Commission (PCC) in 1962. The questionnaire was given to refugees who had been driven out of Israel with the founding of the state in 1948 and later. This poem is included in The Great Wave.