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Today, first a poem by Fadwa Tuqan, selected from the historical document POETRY OF RESISTANCE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE, followed by a poem that I wrote back in the early 2000’s, in response to censorship which again, is rearing its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