POETRY OF RESISTANCE IN
OCCUPIED PALESTINE
TRANSLATED BY
SULAFA HIJJAWI
Published by the Ministry of Culture Baghdad- Iraq
1968
This is a revised and edited version- 2009
Today, first a poem by Fadwa Tuqan, selected from the historical document POETRY OF RESISTANCE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE, followed by a poem that I wrote back in the early 2000’s, in response to censorship which again, is rearing its ugly head stronger than ever today–
EVER ALIVE
by FADWA TUQAN,
My beloved home land
No matter how long the millstone
Of pain and agony churns you
In the wilderness of tyranny,
They will never be able
To pluck your eyes
Or kill your hopes and dreams
Or crucify your will to rise
Or steel the smiles of our children
Or destroy and burn,
Because out from our deep sorrows,
Out from the freshness of our spilled blood
Out from the quiverings of life and death
Life will be reborn in you again………
ODE TO CENSORSHIP
©Jay Mora-Shihadeh
why should i
shut up
what i
believe is
wrong
i don’t want to
hurt you
but i must be
strong
in justice
not cower at
injustice
my pride
is in what’s
correct
i believe
the u.s.a.
is corrupt
breathing, living off
someone else’s
air, land and stolen
contraband
this united states
government
has created
many enemies
with their
thuggish
foreign policies
how long do
you believe
uncle sam
will understand
they are justified
in their
right to
concretize
their warring
plan
to conquer
every piece
of land
upon
this
earth
so grand
bleeding
wringing out
the souls
of cultures
ancient and
cosmopolitan
this land
this u.s. land
land stolen
not so long ago
the genocide
of native
american
man
woman
child
so blood thirsty
for the gold
too bold
in their arrogance
striking young, striking old
in defiance
of a peoples’
generosities
taking advantage
of their reciprocity
how long before
the end
of a system
built off these
atrocities
this war
this massacre
this seizing of land
will cause nothing
more than
a devastating plan
of self-destruction
and
a ‘quick flash in the pan’
of a people
too greedy
too backward
too
in-humanitarian
I see justice
on the horizon
beating a path
of victory
from years of
oppression
lighting the way
for democratic
expression
lost in the
onslaught of
criminal
repression
of culture’s
so vast
it’s beyond
comprehension
of
beautiful worlds
years ahead
of this time, this place
ahead of this race
to capture control
and bottle
the magic that
inhales and exhales with
unwavering grace
a peoples’ so strong
so rightful in place.
Photo by Wallace Chuck from Pexels
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