Mahmoud Darwish Poems

This land gives us
all that makes life worth living:
April's blushing advances,
the aroma of bread at dawn,
a woman's haranguing of men,
the poetry of Aeschylus,
...

I am Yousuf, O father.
O father, my brothers do not love me nor want me among them.
They assault me and throw stones and words at me
They want me to die so they can eulogize me.
...

A dull evening in a rundown village
Eyes half asleep
...

And we have countries without borders, like our idea
of the unknown, narrow and wide - countries whose maps
...

Rome is skin to us as if imposed fate
Its name is branded on our backs yet
As prisoners' numbers and scourges that's Rome
Rome dismantles our brands under her want
...

I will slog over this endless road to its end.
Until my heart stops, I will slog over this endless, endless road
...

Wait for her with an azure cup.
Wait for her in the evening at the spring, among perfumed roses.
...

A small evening
A neglected village
...

I long for my mother's bread
My mother's coffee
Her touch
Childhood memories grow up in me
Day after day
...

The Earth is closing on us
pushing us through the last passage
...