3 Palestinian Poems

Najwan Darwish, Iqbal Tamimi, Musab Iqbal

Eid Mubarak Friends.

A few headlines from a smattering of news outlets.

Israeli Police STORM Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount; Use Stun Grenades/Tear Gas on Worshipers – Numerous Dead and Injured
Israel threatens Gaza ground invasion despite truce efforts
Beset by virus, Gaza's hospitals now struggle with wounded
Israel threatens Gaza with ground attack amid air strikes: Live
Palestinians in Gaza mourn loved ones killed in Israeli air raids
Israel-Palestine Conflict Live: Gaza death toll rises to 115; screams of fear heard kilometres away
Israel’s actions are destroying the moral legitimacy of its own claims
‘Stand with humanity’: Cricketers, footballers join voices in support of Palestine
Amla, Babar Azam among cricketers expressing solidarity with Palestinians
From Amman to Chicago, protests supporting Palestine fill up streets around the world

I’m reminded of lines from Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena’s poem Desh Kagaz Par Bana Naksha Nahi Hota| देश कागज पर बना नक्शा नहीं होता  |(A country is not a map drawn on paper)

“यदि तुम्हारे घर के
एक कमरे में आग लगी हो
तो क्या तुम
दूसरे कमरे में सो सकते हो?…
…यदि तुम्हारे घर के एक कमरे में
लाशें सड़ रहीं हों
तो क्या तुम
दूसरे कमरे में प्रार्थना कर सकते हो?”

“Yadi tumhare ghar ke ek kamre mein aag lagi ho,
Toh kya tum dusre kamre mein so sakte ho?… 
…Yadi tumhare ghar ke ek kamre mein laashe sad rahi ho,
Toh kya tum dusre kamre mein prarthna kar sakte ho?”

“If one room in your house
is engulfed in flames
would you be able to
sleep in the room next to it?
If one room in your house is
full of rotting corpses
would you be able to pray
in the room next to it?”

Listen to the answer also (Jawab tho sunte jao)-

“If yes
then I have nothing left
to say to you.”

“यदि हाँ
तो मुझे तुम से
कुछ नहीं कहना है।”

———
I think…

just as the eyes of a people
begin to open
bayonets thread the needle
that stitches them shut

———
I’m sharing 3 Palestinian poems from A Rose Breaking Out of Steel and Blood: Palestinian Poems today. The poets I’ve chosen from this anthology of poetry of conflict, pain and anger are Najwan Darwish, Iqbal Tamimi and Musab Iqbal. Each poem merits a separate reading and commentary of its own. For now, I’d like to leave you with one line from Musab’s poem, before you proceed to reading them in their entirety -

“Every colour of life is poisonous”

Oh and yes, once again, Eid Mubarak.

Note: You could also read Dhwani Shah’s illustrated rendering of 3 Palestinian poems by Yehuda Amichai, Jehan Bseiso, and Fady Joudah here, and Mahmoud Darwish’s Identity Card.