A black broad line—
Red Dots fleck its edges …²
Anger smoulders on the
Fringes of a blocked Horizon …³
Borders are invented lines:
Drawn with Ash on maps and
Sewn into the ground by Bullets.⁴
On our land is a wall which
We’d convert into a Room—
But we weren’t granted Permission.⁵
Tell the guitar player at Jaffa Gate that all the
Houses of the city will tumble down—if he stops!⁶
A Tree’s Greenness
Crosses all Frontiers!⁷
The Sun crosses borders
Without any soldier shooting at it!
A stray Donkey grazes across the firing line
In Peace—and no one aims!⁸
The problems of our Lovers
Remain an unfinished Story
At an unfinished Crossing …⁹
Imagination crosses over
The Wound to the frontiers
Of the Impossible!¹⁰
¹ Shahd Safi, The Anatomy of a Sigh
² Kamal Qaddura tr. M. Jayyusi & Reed, Part of a Wall
³ Fadwa Tuqan tr. Naomi Shihab Nye, Song of Becoming
⁴ Mosab Abu Toha, Palestine A-Z
⁵ Ahmad Dahbour tr. L. Jayyusi & Reed, Our Country
⁶ Anton Shammas tr. Ghazoul & Nye, Seven Poems
⁷ Taher Riyad tr. M. Jayyusi & Reed, Signs
⁸ Salem Jubran tr. L. Jayyusi & Nye, Refugee
⁹ Yusuf Abu Lauz tr. Elmusa & Nye, Trees of Words
¹⁰ Waleed Sayf tr. Elmusa & Heath-Stubbs, Death at Night’s End