In our Blood a Million Suns
Defy a multitude of Cruelties²
This War Halts Stars in their Orbits³
Whisper the Names of Martyrs Lost,
Into the Wind, No Matter the Cost –
So their Stories may travel Far & Wide,
Across Oceans vast, with wind as Guide⁴
Tell the Guitar player at Jaffa Gate – all the
Houses of the city will Tumble down if he stops⁵
How is it the same Fingers shape the Melody can
Coldly wrap around a Trigger, point it at a Heart?⁶
I never carry a Rifle on my shoulder or Pull
A Trigger – all I have is a Lute’s Melody, a
Brush to paint my Dreams, a bottle of Ink⁷
Because I Love in a Deformed Society:
This is why you find me Deformed!⁸
What shall expose the Murderers
But the Innocence of our Blood?⁹
The Blood which springs from
Their Bodies flows from Ours¹⁰
¹ Mahmoud Darwish (كل قصيدة جميلة هي فعل مقاومة)
² Tawfiq Zayyad tr. Elmusa & Collom, A Million Suns in My Blood
³ Mai Sayigh tr. L. Jayyusi & Nye, From Beirut Under Siege
⁴ Huda Skaik, Echoes from Gaza
⁵ Anton Shammas tr. Ghazoul & Nye, Seven Poems
⁶ Lena Jayyusi, The Beggar
⁷ Tawfiq Zayyad tr. Elmusa & Doria, All I Have
⁸ ‘Abdallah Radwan tr. Elmusa & Nye, Deformed
⁹ Mu’een Bseiso tr. M. Jayyusi & Nye, Footsteps
¹⁰ Yusef ‘Abd al-‘Aziz tr. M. Jayyusi & Nye, The Shaqeef Moon