The boy who could have become

a powerful poem by Alaa Saloum read out at the Gaza protest in Aberdeen on 23 August 2025 almost two years into the genocide.

The boy who could have become
a voice among the morning sparrows,
feet chasing sunlight through dusty streets,
hands reaching for letters,
for games, for futures—
is stilled by air that burned
without flame.

The boy who could have become
a storm of questions,
was silenced before he said
his first word.

The boy who could have become
a dentist,
was cut down
before he grew teeth.

He is the shadow of possibility,
the grief of a world
that looked away.

Yet he was not alone.
A drop in a sea of corpses,
stacked like broken dolls.
Futures drowned together
in the poisoned night.