Another Great Loss...


Mahmoud Darwish, one of my favorite Arab (Palestinian) poets died today. A man whose poetry followed me everywhere...
Another great loss for the Arabs.

And we are left with the junk of American globalization, the unending crimes of a New World order and a continuous hemorrhaging Arab world following a forced biceps delivery...

I leave you with one of his poems...

I come from There,

I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends,
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.

I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother,
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood,
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up,
To make a single word: Homeland....



And those who just stood and watched, will face a similar day, when they will say - I came from There, once, a long time ago...

PS: For more from Mahmoud Darwish, click here.

Painting : Iraqi female artist, Widad Al-Orfali.

Comments

ed said…
Very beautiful poetry indeed.Thanks Layla and it's good to see you back.
Anonymous said…
Individuals of good will can change friggin nothing.

It's the masses, the whole Arab body, that should stop standing watching.

It might take a unifying leader, though...
Anonymous said…
The tall, bare tree in the picture looks as if thinking over suicide by drowning.
Anonymous said…
Mahmoud Darwish, another lucky one who's made it out of the Hell that is our Zionized world...
Anonymous said…
Mademoiselle Anwar, vous n'etes pas drole du tout.
Samer Dallasheh said…
I still can't believe he died.

Well am looking forward for more Poets to become as good as him.
Anonymous said…
i still cant believe he is dead either....my mind just refuses to accept....the world will be a shittier place without him....RIP MAHMOUD DARWISH....U WERE A GOOD MAN
Anonymous said…
lets all us share our favourites poems.....mine was the following:

Oh my father, I am Yusuf
Oh father, my brothers neither love me nor want me in their midst
They assault me and cast stones and words at me
They want me to die so they can eulogize me
They closed the door of your house and left me outside
They expelled me from the field
Oh my father, they poisoned my grapes
They destroyed my toys
When the gentle wind played with my hair, they were jealous
They flamed up with rage against me and you
What did I deprive them of, Oh my father?
The butterflies stopped on my shoulder
The bird hovered over my hand
What have I done, Oh my father?
Why me?
You named me Yusuf and they threw me into the well
They accused the wolf
The wolf is more merciful than my brothers
Oh, my father
Did I wrong anyone when I said that
I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon
Saw them kneeling before me?
Anonymous said…
And those who just stood and watched, will face a similar day, when they will say - I came from There, once, a long time ago...

--

very astutely observed layla and well linked to the poem in hand
Anonymous said…
Samer Dallasheh said...

I still can't believe he died.

Well am looking forward for more Poets to become as good as him.

---

well u seem to have gotten over your grief pretty quickly....anyway poets like this don't just come n go....it takes 100s of years for a poet of this calibre to come to the fore.....you'll be lucky to get even a poet a tenth as good as him in your lifetime
Anonymous said…
I want my cat back.
Anonymous said…
Layla, do you believe we will get to see Baghdad or Al Quds or both liberated in our lifetimes ?
Anonymous said…
catless said...

I want my cat back.

--

fuck off
Anonymous said…
waiting waiting waiting said...

Layla, do you believe we will get to see Baghdad or Al Quds or both liberated in our lifetimes ?

--

if u want my opinion, it will be close, i think it will abt 40-60yrs before it is truly liberated so depending how old u r u cud end up missing it
Anonymous said…
KMWR--Thanks for the posted information, both you and uruknet.
Anonymous said…
layla check your emails!!
Anonymous said…
I bet you anything that JR has called his baby girl Layla !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous said…
Beautiful art, luxurious poetry.
How do you keep up with art, music, poetry, the news? Your English is great. You are something special, aren't you? (I do mean that.)
Where do you get all your art from?
On a serious note, what's the connection between you and a Palestinian poet?
Anonymous said…
Reading through your blog, I've noticed you underwent a change of heart vis à vis Saddam Hussein around the eve of his execution.
In your earliest posts, you sounded more like a "No Bush, No Saddam" style average garden variety "anti-war" person.
Maybe after all you just respect the way he died but aren't really passionate of the man as people think you are, isn't that so ?
Layla Anwar said…
Ed,

Hi and good to "see" you again.
Great poetry by Darwish, I agree.
How is the music going ?
Layla Anwar said…
realist,

I agree with you...it does take the masses and a unifying force.
Layla Anwar said…
impression,

you choose to see it that way. I saw the painting as something different. I saw a bare olive tree with abandoned palm trees in the horizon...
Layla Anwar said…
Samer,

Salam, my condoleances...
A great loss, today is his burial. I doubt that the upcoming Barghouti will ever match him, I doubt anyone will...for a long long time...I do agree with IBM, it takes another 100 years..
Layla Anwar said…
IBM,

GREAT POEM - thank you.
I did not receive any of your mails...re-send please.
Take care JR and don't disappear.
Layla Anwar said…
waiting,

not short of a miracle...
Layla Anwar said…
Steen,

Thank you for the compliment. I am flattered. But no I don't think am anything particularly special...

Art, music, poetry is what polishes the rough edges of our human condition...

Which brings me to my connection to a Palestinian poet - How can you not see the connection ?
Layla Anwar said…
trying to understand,

your perception is not correct.
I did say in one post that Iraq was too close to my heart for me to write about in the earliest posts. - read the language of open wounds post.

And I never said
" No to Saddam, no to Bush."

These are the anti war clowns and am no clown...History laughs at clowns...
Iraqi Mojo said…
Most Sunni Arabs were pissed off by Saddam's execution. It was done on Eid, and that offended many people. And they didn't have to yell "Muqtada Muqtada Muqtada" as if they were hanging him just for killing Muqtada's father and brother. Saddam killed many more Iraqis than Sadr's family.

The Iraqi govt should have continued the trial and reviewed more evidence of crimes against the Kurds. But executing Saddam was justice served. Some people think he didn't suffer enough.
Anonymous said…
Layla said...
"i don't think am anything particularly special"

I do :-)
Anonymous said…
iraqi mojo doesn't deserve a rope nor a bullet, he should just be stoned to death, and it doesn't matter on what day of the year...
Anonymous said…
Blogger Layla Anwar said...

IBM,

GREAT POEM - thank you.
I did not receive any of your mails...re-send please.

---

emails weren't really that important....was just asking where u were
Anonymous said…
Take care JR and don't disappear.

--

u 2 layla.....and i won't...just had a lot on my mind
Anonymous said…
nice i like that poet too
and nice iraqi painintg
Sinbad said…
A great Loss. But his poems will remian embedded in our hearts.

Popular posts from this blog

Diss Information.

Endless Beginnings...

Why ?