Month: August 2013

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Le Trio Joubran and Mahmoud Darwish

Mahmoud Darwish (13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008)

‘This siege will persist until we teach our enemies
models of our finest poetry

the sky is leaden during the day
and a fiery orange at night… but our hearts
are as neutral as the flowery emblems on a shield

…

This low, high land
this holy harlot…
we do not pay much attention to the magic of these words
a cavity may become a vacuum in space
a contour in geography’

from State of Siege

‘I am dreaming of white lilies
of a song-filled street
a house that’s well-lit.
I want a good heart
not the weight of a gun’s magazine.
I want a day & its sunlight
& no fascist victory exultation in it.
I want a smiling child in this day
not an issue of the war-machine.
I came here because I thought a sun
was approaching its zenith not setting.
I refuse to die
turning my gun my love
on women & children
to guard the orchards & wells
of oil tycoons & tycoons of weapons factories.’

from “A Soldier Dreams of White Lilies”

I Have Behind the Sky a Sky

I have behind the sky a sky for my return, but I

am still polishing the metal of this place, and living

an hour that foresees the unknown. I know time

will not be my ally twice, and I know I will exit

my banner as a bird that does not alight on trees in the garden.

I will exit all of my skin, and my language.

And some talk about love will descend in

Lorca poems that will live in my bedroom

and see what I have seen of the bedouin moon. I will exit

the almond trees as cotton on the brine of the sea. The stranger passed

carrying seven hundred years of horses. The stranger passed

right here, for the stranger to pass over there. I will soon exit

the wrinkles of my time as a stranger to Syria and the Andalus.

This earth is not my sky, yet this sky is my evening

and the keys are mine, the minarets are mine, the lanterns are mine, and I

am also mine. I am the Adam of two Edens, I lost them twice.

So expel me slowly,

and kill me quickly,

beneath my olive tree,

with Lorca …

Related Links

Mahmoud Darwish, “Unbeliever in the Impossible”

Poems by Mahmoud Darwish

Mahmoud Darwish Biography

Selected Works: On the 5th Anniversary of Mahmoud Darwish’s Death

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On The Cat

may06 060Guest post from Kadaitcha reader Ray Nash:

“CAT, my dear Cat,

So common a name for such an enigmatic and enchanting creature. You are so much more than that, Cat. Words escape me, for I alone cannot capture that which I know to be true. Your presence seems locked into my soul. Your physical shape, your soft features and your fluidity of motion, as you move from place to place, complete my picture of the nature of life so perfect and whole.

A shame for those who see in you no good, a travesty against such a wonderful, precious and beautiful entity who so often is illegitimately misconstrued and misunderstood and the result of which is the laying of unfounded blame for bad deeds not actually done. They can never know what it is they somehow miss with their blinders of prejudice and never being able to see you simply as one who is a part of much that is good in this often-time world of sorrow, the goodness or feel of your endearing tenderness and love is beyond their comprehension.

When my gaze locks onto your mysterious far off one, I feel a symbiosis, a symbiotic bond between life cousins. There is no speech necessary, for we knowingly understand each other in so many ways. With part of you still in the wild and the other part willing to share with us humans your self-assurance and love. I hold you closely and dearly as I listen to your guttural purr. I feel your intrinsic entitlement to me, your ownership of me, and I am indeed yours forever. My wonderment in your actions and my appreciation of you continues to grow, even in your eventual death I can never let you go. We are more than just good friends, your presence has enriched me far beyond normal measures and made my life better.

Beyond flesh and bone, sinew and fur, you, CAT, are indeed so very much more than that. You are, simply, one of Mother Nature’s greatest and absolute treasures. And I love you!

-S&RNash”