Our old gods they are called false they are cut from the land
like a mountain nothing holds firm the earth the hand will rise up
striking us clear we are pestilence we are dust shrugged
skin stripped a back the feet a heart cry as the land cries
they mean to kill us hinking hoping the land will be made new.
Yumna Kassab is a writer based in Western Sydney. Her first book of stories, The House of Youssef (Giramondo, 2019), was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the Queensland Literary Awards. Her second book, Australiana, was published in 2022 by Ultimo Press.
