Palestine

Mahmoud Darwish... "Darwish is the essential breath of the Palestinians, the eloquent testimony of exile and belonging..." (Naomi Shihab Nye, poeta). Mahmoud Darwish's webpage  To My Mother... I long for my mother's bread, My mother's Coffee, And my mother's touch... Childhood grows in me, Day after day, And I love my life, For if I die, I fear my mother will shed a tear! Oh take me, if I return some day, As a veil for your eyelashes, And cover my bones with herbs, That turned sacred by your ankle And tie me, With a strand of hair, Or a thread, that dangles from your dress, For I may turn to a god, A god I will be, If I ever reach the bottom of your heart! Place me, if I return, As a fuel for your fire... And a clothesline on the roof of our house Because I have lost the ability to stand, Without your evening prayers! I have grown old, so give me the stars of childhood, So that I could join the young birds, In their journey home, To your waiting nest........