Unsheathe a hollow spear and spill from ephemeral streams of blue.
Hold it against me only for a moment to let my skin seize against the cold steel.
Instruct me to look away but how could I do so
having seen the enduring pain of those who have come before me?
Grip my wrist tightly and prick me slow.
As the elasticity of my youthful skin gives way to a single red drop,
remind me of crumbled concrete stained with civilian blood
and soils tarnished with iron.
Do not lie to me.
Tell me the sting will never go away.
—
Author’s note: Since the inception of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the United Nations has verified that at least 350,000 people have been killed in a ten-year span and has cautioned that this number is an “under-count of the actual number of killings.”
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Contributing Writer
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Mahmud is a fourth year medical student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Lubbock, Texas Class of 2022. In 2018, he graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry. He enjoys traveling, discovering new parks, and drinking cold brew coffee in his free time. In the future, Mahmud would like to pursue a career in dermatology.