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From Gaza, Answering Darwish
By Basman Eldirawi
with Mahmoud Darwish, translations by Ibrahim Muhawi
In March, spring rains return, first cold, then warm.
We think it’s the time to relax, to unfold, to bloom.
ليس الزمن في غـزة استرخاء ولكنه
اقتحام الظهيرة المشتعلة
Time in Gaza is not relaxation, but
storming the burning noon.
We both know time in Gaza is different,
But you were born in spring, Mahmoud,
The perfect season for the writing of our triumph.
نظلمها حين
نبحث عن أشعارها
فلا نشوهن جمال غزة
We do injustice to Gaza
when we look for its poems,
so let us not disfigure Gaza’s beauty.
In Gaza, our beauty remains constant,
Where a poet’s mind can settle, or fight, or sing.
أجمل ما فيها أنها خالية من الشعر
في وقت حاولنا أن ننتصر فيه على العدو
بالقصائد فصدقنا أنفسنا
وابتهجنا حين رأينا العدو يتركنا نغني
What is most beautiful in it is
that it is devoid of poetry,
at a time when we tried to triumph over the enemy
with poems, so we believed ourselves
and were overjoyed to see the enemy letting us sing.
It was your mission to make a poem of Gaza,
Caught in the constancy of our beautiful nightmare.
Clouds roll in and out to sea,
Comforting the eyes for those seconds
When the drones hum out of sight.
Sea waves roll on and off the beach,
Soothing the ears for those moments
When the warships leave the horizon.
ونظلم غزة حين نحولها إلى أسطورة
لأننا سنكرهها حين نكتشف أنها
ليست أكثر من مدينة فقيرة صغيرة تقاوم
We do injustice to Gaza when we turn it into a myth,
because we will hate it when we discover that
it is no more than a small poor city that resists.
Poetry is different in a place where Death lives.
Death lives in Gaza, but, if Gaza had a heart,
It would not resemble a poet’s heart.
Gaza’s heart beats poetry into her veins.
She challenges her enemy’s endurance.
She keeps on searching for love.
The world does injustice to Gaza.
We do injustice to Gaza, Mahmoud.
Yet we were born in a time for poems,
For telling the world that Gaza is not a myth,
Even though it is no more
than a small poor city that resists.
*
Basman Aldirawi (also published as Basman Derawi) is a physiotherapist and a graduate of Al-Azhar University in Gaza in 2010. Inspired by an interest in music, movies, and people with special needs, he contributes dozens of stories to the online platform We Are Not Numbers.
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