ROB BAUM
Blood in the Fields of Peace
You were singing when the planes
bent silver
marking a red shadow in your hair.
So close
death kissed me.
I remember to this breath
the ironic chorus
how bullets rang
olives raining from your hands.
They never told us
bodies spray dye like ink
brains explode like puppets
grinning from unfamiliar boxes
We carried you down
cool concrete stairs
song clotting in your throat.
Our doctors had no magic to revive you.
In your blood
I went to the discotheque
to dance death away
until tomorrow
Next morning
tasting blood in the fields of peace
I sought a pattern
among the olives
but could read no future
Rob Baum completed her post-doctorate in gender, gesture and ritual in the Middle East, and has since
then taught in Israel, New Zealand and Australia. Her phenomenological research includes the book
Female Absence: Women,
Theatre and Other Metaphors (Peter Lang, 2003), and articles on Palestinian ritual, race/gender issues, Holocaust trauma
and identity politics. A Senior Lecturer at Monash University, Rob trains disabled artists, and performs in movement
improvisation, theatre and circus. Her plays emphasise strong, desirable roles for women.