“The Color Red” was written by Alaa Kamal Al Bana as part of the Hands Up Project, which connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. Al Bana’s poem was written in response to katherena vermette’s poem “yellowbird,” shared with Alaa by her mentor Rim Aoude, a Palestinian poet living in Montreal. “The Color Red” was one of the winners of the 2024 Hands Up Poetry Competition. katherena vermette read Alaa’s poem, with the author’s permission, to open her set at the Woody Point Festival this past summer. We asked both poets if we could feature their poems together in issue 57 of Riddle Fence.

Alaa Kamal Al Bana (15) is a Palestinian poet from Gaza and one of the winners of the 2024 Hands Up Poetry Competition. She was pulled from beneath the rubble after an airstrike shattered her home in Rafah. Evacuated to Egypt with her mother and sisters for medical treatment, she now lives in exile, stateless, without basic rights, and with only limited access to education. Her body is healing, but her heart remains in Gaza, where her father still waits behind the border.

katherena vermette (she/her/hers) is a Michif (Red River Métis) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis Nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Writer of arguably too many genres, her books include, North End Love Songs (Muses’ Company) winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry.

Jordan Beaulieu is a drawer and book designer exploring poetry, comics, and rural life. She organizes the Charlottetown Zine Fest annually in November. She lives and works in Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island.