Monday, November 12, 2007

On This Earth

We have on this earth what makes life worth living. April's hesitation, the
aroma of bread
at dawn, a woman's point of view about men, the works of Aeschylus, the
beginning
of love, grass on a stone, mother's living on a flute's sigh and the invaders' fear
of memories.

We have on this earth what makes life worth living: the final days of
September, a woman
keeping her apricots ripe after forty, the hour of sunlight in prison, a cloud
reflecting a swarm
of creatures, the peoples' applause for those who face death with a smile,
a tyrants fear of songs.

We have on this earth what makes life worth living on this earth, the lady
of Earth,
mother of all beginnings and ends. She was called Palestine. Her name
later became
Palestine. My lady, because you are my lady, I deserve life.

From Fewer Roses, Mahmoud Darwish ( 1986)

2 comments:

Marta said...

Yes, i like this very much, too. Some notes are terribly touching and, in fact, if something has to be said, this poem is painful, too painful to read. I will not read it anymore :|

Kubla Khan said...

I think it is a poem that celebrates certain things in spite of everything.
but that is only me.