Poems by Mazin
A.O. (Sept. 2004)
Gibran would say a thought in a cage cannot fly
but here in the sunrise
thoughts of leaning green stems
after a closeness unexplained
new thoughts breathing
soaring, souring
where did we meet in past life?
In fertile crevices of our white matter?
or in groves of za'ater and za'rour?
Was it a mirage or wistful dream?
A missed opportunity or more chains shed?
Alas, the sun rises higher and life's routine
Yet somehow, the thought triumphs
Two plants bending in a breeze
bearing husks of past adventure
sadness, joy
colors of spring
fears of autumn
fruits of contemplation
not quite embracing but surely touching - spirits
and the kernels of what is, was, and yet to be.
----------------
On the death of a leader
(11/11/04)
Land occupied by armies of hate
People left to the mercy of those with no mercy
Media vultures get their morsels
and ask the wrong questions
while refugees dare to hope
Land of tears and honey
People awaiting an awakening
Children dreaming and yearning
Mourning their leader today
while refugees dare to dream
Where shall we put our last tent
where shall we have our last meal
our last hug
our last tear
our last curse
our last farewell
our last hope
In our yearning,
we journey
to our roots
to our hearts
to come back home
while refugees dare to love
their falastine
7atta al-awda/until the return
when the martyr will rest in peace
----------------
Airplane
11/11/04
Trusting fragile bodies
to a mother of steel
mocking earth
to ascend the blue dome
making love to blue skies
Its load of passengers
Indifferent to one another
Each with a destiny
Each with a mental baggage
Traveling to their past
But the mother of steel cares none
that I am traveling with the wind
between loving olive branches of my childhood
and kissing the cold cheek of Papa
in his casket
The harsh sun shines as
we descend back into
our lives and pick up our shackles
until we meet again
----------------
Contemplation
11/11/04
thoughts of life and death
past, present, and yet to be
somehow, somewhere, sometime
yearning to understand
the eternal questions
looking to touch the mind of God
so distant
so powerful
so amazing
but hidden within each of us
perhaps all the secrets of life
are there to see
in a child's eye
in a single cell
or in a kiss
----------------
Phoenix
October 2004
A new life emerges only
when a sperm and an egg let go of themselve
transformed
die and are reborn
so it is with creativity and comprehension
we must shed our shackles and chains
willingly embrace the demise
of an old mind
in the knowledge that
wisdom grows from the ashes
like a phoenix
----------------
Love
(2/6/2005)
Undescribable mystery
of connecting spirits
Unseen beauty unexplained
touching the untouchable
fleeting blissful moments
stillness and pain
in the eye of a sad hurricane
yearning for
wistful fulfillment
satisfying regrets
of confused reassurances
about timeless memories
about long departed future
leaving a lonely present
yearning but not knowing
perhaps the
magic of a smile
and a tear
leads us to
the treasure map of life
Alas, keys to the heart
of the why
are no where to be found
----------------
Purpose
(4/20/05)
We can help without interfering
In the fate unfolding
Not to fashion a destiny
neither to act in enmity
But to enjoy and aid
nature's evolving cascade
not to breach
neither to beseach
to act without destroying
to build without obstructing
Looking inward is key
to future living free
aid the natural blooming
of life's miracles growing
and unfoldig a better future
for every living creature
----------------
Zapatistas
(4/20/05)
We do not ask for charity
Nor do care for your vanity
We do not have a begging hand
We live off our ancestral land
We do need your modernity
We treasure our community
Not your morals twisted
nor your products listed
dams and railroads destroy
a simple homeland we enjoy
You cannot preach progress
while deepening distress
We have what we need
We avoid your greed
The conquistadores we remember
Only to mother earth we surrender
The whole world can see
that all we want is to be free
Viva Zaptistas
Viva Chiapas
=============
Nature is wondrous all
5/29/05
In its soft blooming petals
or gittering fighting metals
in its endless regeneration
and inevitable disintegration
Nature is wondrous all
in a sound of a hummingbird feeding
or a dermestid on a corpse crunching
In a tight grip of a child
or devouring jaws in the wild
Nature is wondrous all
In a butterfly windy lifting
In the raging wave battering
Nature is wondrous all
In human failings
and cultured musings
In struggle for freedom
Or in rejection of wisdom
Whether asking salvation
waiting for redemption
if they give of their heart
or merely act smart
Nature is wondrous all
In power prospering
Out of power posturing
In democracy
and bureacracy
In silent mediocracy
or in loud jeolousy
Nature is wondrous all
Choose how to live it
or how to leave it
do no harm and be kind to all
For miracles abound in all
============
O Palestine
7/15/05
(Published in Human Liberation (Nakba 48) Vol 1, No 1, Sept 2005)
Published also in French at ISM France
Your sisters stayed in their palaces
With golden chains and shameless lies
Some grinned and aided criminals...
Others chose to veil their eyes
Some justify rape and expulsions
Others prayed to their silent gods.
When you thought they had their fills
In that dry June of decays,
They climbed over the hills
To finish the ghastly deeds
Sickening became the violations…
Dark masses on your strong arms
arms that gently lifted orphans
Armenian, Circasian, Hebrew and Druze
Fractures on your white breasts
That gave milk to hungry babies
Bruises on your gentle fingers
That wiped the tears from so many eyes
Your sad eyes bear their marks
on a kind face that gave millions hopes
Maddening deafening sounds
Of violent bloody rapes
Of countless lengthy reports
Of motions, plans, and resolutions
that sacrificed justice and truths
at the altar of greedy egos
Where goes the hope of children dreams?
In awakening consciences?
In olive trees or returning cactuses?
In time, distance, or struggles?
In awakening heart deep in majestic mountains?
Beating beneath silent deserts?
Occasionally erupting … intifadas?
1920..29..36..56..87...2000...
The lost men hopelesly lust for power crums
endlessly argue about keys
While she struggles to break the doors
And tear down the suffocating walls
Clans and Tribes follow mirages
and weaklings imagine strength in lies
But in the end no one denies
Your ancient spirit survives
To help heal all bruises
yours and ours
When the sun again shines
O Palestine
=========
Little girl at the airport
4/19/06
What are you thinking about little girl?
Listening to your favorites and fiddling with your spinning disk
chewing your gum with a sad look
your pink stuffed toy framed by your red soccer shirt
What are you thinking about little girl?
What future might bring you?
What your brother did to you?
Or simply wondering what teh evining will bring?
What are you thinking about little girl?
You are young my child
the future will unfold in time
tie your shoes..enjoy the moment
Beieve in yourself Love fully,, embrace life
get past any enmity
while always challenging complacency
question assumption
live your destiny
======
Of Palestine
4/19/06
When I die, bury my ashes in my town
Joining my memory with that of beloved soil
that gave us life, education, and love
In Palestine
Under the uncompromising sun and the sky
that tells no lies
In Palestine
Where we learned to plough rocky soils
and dance the dabka
sway to the magic of nai and oud
Fairuz an Um Kulthum
mothers' tender words inseparable from a meal
zait and Zaatar
In Palestine
where we we worshipped in mosque, church, and olive groves
where we learned to live together everyday
even when not knowing it would be our last day
In Palestine
where We hated the occupation, the land confiscation, the US funded army
where we mourned friends lost
where we resisted by staying, living, and loving
and when we could not stay, we stayed connected
with all that was good and worthy of our love
Of Palestine
where we got to school dodging
bullets, checkpoints, walls
"Keef al-ma7soom alyoum"
In the refugee camps..the loneliness of the ghorba
we still married, had children, laughed, cried, lived, and loved
we taught our children to kick the ball, to say Ahlan wa Sahlan,
and to believe that
Our ashes join a million million spirits
of ancestors who lived and loved
and children who live and love
we still teach them
"like 20 impossibles"
We shall return
To Palestine
and our children will live in freedom
In Palestine
======
Damu and Qasim
What legacy two black brothers who saw the world unity?
How do I remember departed friends who nurtured solidarity?
Caring for inner cities, Africa, Iraq, and Palestine
Working to free humanity they did to us shine
Speaking truth to power
And helping all empower
Both die two days apart
Both reside in my heart
One a Christian who made allies with all,
One a convert to Islam who made allies with all,
One founded Black Voices for Peace,
One founded other organizations for Peace
Both died young at fifty four years
Both mourned in a multi-faith sea of tears
Both thousands have been touched over the years
Those who will carry the torch of truth speaking
Can never forget the ultimate moral power of acting
When the divine speaks to us in His ways
We are told "Those who believe..on them shall be no fear"*
"If you believe, you will receive what you ask for in prayer"**
We are told many things
We hope we know where we are standing
We hope we know where we are going
(and how to get there... in your footsteps)
Goodbye with a tear
gratitude with a tear
To fallen beacons of inspiration .. steadfast we must stay
honoring you missed comrades ... thanking you, along our way
*Quran saying: "Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #62
**Matthew 21:21-23
More on Damu Smith and Imam Qasim Sherief
http://www.damusmith.org/
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctsharief.artmay05,0,5943299.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
==========
Civilizations
May 2006
Why is it that the Italians identified
with great Roman civilization
While the Egyptians are told to forget ancestors
Blamed for current leadership corruption
Why do colonial Zionist occupied capitals
Teach school remembering Moses as if he was a Jew
Jesus as if he was not an Aramite Palestinian
Conveniently skipping five hundred centuries
Shapes distorted twisted perceptions
manufacturing and discarding history
and then convincing themselves of their creations
Using propaganda to justify prejudices
and greedy racist dreams
Learning nothing from the past
Choosing to destroy the perceived other
hopelessly mired in useless hate
killing others in the name of "civilization"
while promoting a clash of global redecoration
A war against humanity
and for arrogant vanity
Destroying Palestine
May 2006
Some call it ethnic cleansing
Some call it Zionists aspiring
Removed from your villages in 1948
Destroyed border towns of 1952
Relocated from the Mughrabi quarter in 1967
To make room for tourists and pilgrims
How many thousands made homeless
Out of Jerusalem and into wilderness
Still your greed does not stop
Three hundred thousand to be "relocated"
to the designated side of the "hafrada" wall
And being married living together does not mean
Not if you are the undesired (even if native) goyim
the gentile native in lands conquered by a self-chosen team
Unjust Laws and power make it possible
A world silent make it feasible
Collaborators and cowards make it palatable
Quelling resistance
mocking patience
Relentlessly destroying a civilization
and a people
while the rest of the world
becomes less civilized and descends
into the darkness
Alas, who will light the candles?
and put replant the olives and figs?
--------------------
On stones
7/20/06
Amid the misery, injustice, loneliness and pain
How can we find a way understand let alone explain
How the baby from the cradle between the river
Grew up in Western lands to come back and kill his parents
How 19 dictators watched it rape and murder the three sisters
Among the people, some whispered, some approved, some turned away
How do we explain
How the lion ate the three bulls
How "laws" (of the jungle) migrated, twisted, returned to kill
How they then covered the censored torn children's limbs
How the Goddesses of sustenance and love were also murdered
by a jeolous rapist who crowned himself as the chosen one
How do we explain
How children going to school are beaten by someone who believes
that the blood of Jews is redder than Goyims'
That a merciful god became a real estate agent writing land deeds in holy books and ordering annihilation of women and children
How do we explain, how we the Canaanites became stones
to be cleared
Silent Arab stones
echoing the wind
Endless in numbers
some stacked neatly on the edge of the field
some sometimes return
Relentless summer sun bakes them
Some sink in the sands
others worship the Bethlehem stars
Rains dissolve some of them
Into younger stones
While others hide scorpions
Some precious stones
Some Hard enough to make fires- Suwwan*
Others Soft enough to etch- Huwwar**
Big and flat make good headstones
Round and small make good tools for slingshots
To vent the anger
But even as we strain to classify the stones
we hear the heartbeat among the silence
See the farmer till and seed what remains of his rocky soil
behind the apartheid wall
and wait for the rains
and the awakening
(*Sowwan: Flint stone, **Huwwar: lime stone)
----------------
A night in Nablus
7/20/06
A hotel named Yasmina (jasmin) on a street with no name
A full moon silently observes
The city that never sleeps
The chatter of gunfire
The thud of a large explosion
Muffled words in the hallway
I walk out to the lobby
Where Aljazeera is always on
Telling us neighborhoods demolished
Tyre, Beirut, Gaza, Khan Yunis
But not Nablus
"3adi" (normal) I am told
not to worry.. it is not this street
I am not reassured
I go back to the room with a fluttering curtain
I only hear a dog and a cat in the alley
I think of the treachery of Arab leaders
I think of the baby found on his mother’s corpse suckling the blood dripping down from her forehead
I wanted to scream but the parasites, jackals, and vultures would not hear
I go to the bathroom and throw up
The lump in my throat now becomes bitter
I take a sip but the water tastes worse
I think of soldiers, colonial settlers, and refugees
I think of facing Ma7sum Huwwara*
And the container*
Why do we reject the creeping madness
to suffocate on the bitter reality?
Dawn dials up the life of the city
And nourishes the flowers in the growing grave yards
The home demolished the night before receives little talk
There is talk of a funeral and weddings
And new babies born the night before
The price of fuel and the sweetness of Knaffe
They know there is another night waiting
but need to tend to ordinary lives
in extraordinary circumstances
Visitors can leave
take their pity and tears with them
We have no time to opine
Life does not wait even when we continue to hope
for a better day in Nablus, Palestine
* These are permanent Israeli checkpoints faced in traveling from Nablus back to Bethlehem
========
Gardening On labor day
4 September 2006
Gardening On labor day
After the long yester day
Untamed thoughts like those gusts
or the scattered winged delicate seeds
Are they challenging the mighty oaks?
Or worshipping uncaring blue skies?
In Arabic love is 'hub'
and seeds are 'hab"
Both, though daring, seem ephemeral and light
yet sometimes, unexpectedly, grow to mighty height
those of thought may get lost, wondering,
may get hungry, thirsty, meandering ...
It seems long ago that we built lives,
had different hopes and made young mistakes.
Is it natural that after we first encountered,
that all past assumptions were altered?
Will achievements grow ancient
and joys of success remain transient?
How do sleepless nights of projects and busy toils
experiences, travels in foreign soils, and yearnings
acquire evolving, yet to comprehend, new meanings?
Some becoming as relevant as the live bait
looking to avoid that certain fate
Some giving new lessons to ponder
If only our feeble minds can understand the wonder!
Do our fates dictate?
Or simply tease us too late?
An anxious heart which gets no rest,
asks in hurried and hesitant ernest:
why not enjoy the sweetness of your harvest
the simplicty of the pine
red tomatoes on your vine
the accolades and the taste of the red sweet wine
why not let the poor, anguished, spirit
rest with its memories of olive and fig trees
of the beauty of Cyclamon and fragrance of Za'atar
of growing up in Palestine
why that hurricane of emotion
Could it simply be an infatuation
The mind, though cautious, partially agrees
But it too seems not at all at ease
Then a defiant wild yellow flower silently and gently bends
declaring our time is short in a universe that never ends
She grows in that field most people avoid
where Rumi said there is no good or evil
and no heaven or hell
where ying and yang cannot exist without the other
where we remember to breath deeply
where we smile and cry for humanity freely
where we "have joyful participation in the sorrows of this world"
where all doubt gets swept away by one wispered word
So then I let that flower be
left it and wondered of me
walked to that lonely changing stream
and begged of my reflection to dream
... of delicate fingers
... of unforgettable gestures
... of unimaginable smiles
... of memorable scents
... of magical kind words
... of fields, follies, and fates
... of humanity and the meaning of life's journeys
... of another gentle stream that may lead to the waterfall, to the ocean,
to fertile places, or to madness
... of nature finding ways
... of unimagined unchartered paths
of growing, nurturing, budding,
feeling, sharing,
and loving
================
Happiness
A spirit rejecting its chains
Minds free from assumptions
Recognizing that no one lives alone..
All are interconnected
all are responsible for good and for evil
When we recognize atrocity not as caused by
Germans or Jews or Imperialists but as
a biosystem who we belong to disrupted
evolving, mutating, making mistakes
Our human mistakes are the culled mutations
needed tools educations
for growing and learning not regreting
many emotions .. much crying and laughing
and nothing about to despair
only the generous spirit to share
with those who are suffering
the secret is knowing our fragility
our limitations and our own ying and yang
it is called humility
or was it humanity
--------------------------------
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
Standing ovations to a criminal spouting lies
Regurgitated in News and Editorial pages
Yet, what is censored is far more important
and its ramifications far more significant
Some victims adopted the language of their oppressors
Others resigned to their proscribed fates
Many in a peace movement co-opted or afraid
letting others pay the sacrifices
Goebbles would have envied thier media devices
they are allowed to endlessly quibble
Baghdad burning while they argue over the sound of the fiddle
(using colonial language)
"How do we fix Eyraq?"
"How do we fight Eyran”?
"How do we isolate the radicals"?
(even the majority wanting freedom)
"How do we kill more extremists"?
(even as we created the largest green house to grow them)
How do we get more subservient UN institutions?
While violating all human rights resolutions.
maybe more money to Dahlan, Al-Hurra, and Iraqi puppets?
more tours of duty, fancy words and better bullets?
more new clothes for old generals
or old cloths for new programs?
maybe better hasbara language of
us vs them, them vs them,
terrorism vs democracies
Palestinians vs Israelis
Shi'i vs Sunni
Arabs vs Jews
blacks vs whites
black and white
language of hate and diversion
language of murder and deception
language of Nero and Ghenkis Khan
Churchill and Balfour
Hertzl and Samuels
Clinton and Pelosi
Browne and Raymond enriched from Oil
that somehow got under our soil
Starbucks' Schultz pontificating
that Israel must do more killing
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
They tell us if victims stop
just maybe, maybe they can drop
some of the worst torture methods
maybe allow some of us to live on our lands
with limited supervised demilitarized autonomy
if we promise the occupiers security
maybe then revive the US constitution
bring kinder pimps for prostitution
maybe share 10% of the privatized resources
with the manufactured competing provinces
promises to give us a glimmer
of tunnels which may have light less dimmer
A promise of another Condi trip peddling a map
like Kissinger peddling his Zionist crap
to get accolades from his masters
and money from his (undisclosed) consultants
While committing and supporting war crimes
with designer suits and fake smiles
fake words of democracy and million dollar bonuses
they play musical chairs
in countless institutions with deceptive names
occasionally jumping to corporations
and then back to government halls
that keeps its only credibility by spreading fear
of Arabs and Muslims
While manufacturing Abrams tanks and misnamed think tanks
while US trained death squads kill the innocents
and propagate the ageless game of conquer, divide, and pillage
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
they said "our policy for the Iraq-Iran war was to get them to kill each other"
deduct the one million who perished in that war
deduct the 1.5 million killed by US led sanctions
deduct the 650,000 Iraqis who perished and those yet to perish in neocon latest war
how many Iraqis will be left in five years?
will they bring Democracy to the last Iraqi standing alive or hang her?
But Iran is next and Maybe China (hence the nuclear deals with India)
Meanwhile Arabs and Muslims are fair game
and don't run fast enough
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
Dare not speak of empire they say
nor recognize the new empire's day
Dare not point the finger at the new king
but follow his instruction and go shopping
And remember to support the marching liberators
spreading depleted uranium and enriched phosphorous
Dare not care for Americans, Iraqis, Israelis, Palestinians,
for freedom is on the march
Dare not care for global warming for the poor or for those dying
for Bush is supervising
Dare not mention Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel/Palestine
for freedoms are of corporations to operate in Venezuela and Iran
freedom is to do what they want to you and your inferior civilization
Dare not say anything here in America for you will be named
anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli, anti-yourself
Dare not, they say
lest you lose your job
or be shipped to Negev or Guantanamou
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
They say if only we would pay our taxes without complaints
if only we would accept crimes as gifts
if only we would manage to smile under their boots
if only we would stop squirming
if only we would elect those complying
if only we would do that or this mission
that they debate endlessly on television
if we stop wanting to live
if we would abandon people's love
if we would stop refuse kneeling
if we stop breathing
maybe they will change to golden sneakers
slap us with a velvet gloves
and make us a new Grenada
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
They condemn the "Islamic government" for oil rich Sudan
Imagine if we use "Jewish government" for atrocity in Palestine
They think we can forget larger genocide
in Congo and Iraq that they decide
They think we can blithely ignore
Genocide of native America
Israeli and American support of Apartheid South Africa
Death squads and dictators in South America
Millions of blacks enslaved
"third world" natural resources plundered
Terrorism on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
role of corporations and Zionists in Hitler's Nazism
They think peace will come (to them) from the barrel of their guns
They think we cannot effect the change for peace with peaceful means
They invoke certain laws when it suits their greed
even as carpet bombing, massacres, and starvation their proud deed
Yet, they know well that the largest violator of UN resolutions,
not only goes unpunished but gets our taxes in the billions.
Dozens of US vetoes to protect that sacred cow
from human rights and International law
While they sharpen more knives and cut a bit deeper to
finish off Palestine, Iraq, America, and the truth
all sacrificed at the altar of Straussian neoconservatism,
Well-dressed think tank pieces, and social Darwinism
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
They ask us to drop Mandela's way of fighting to end apartheid
Truth and reconciliation later, the ANC said, as they struggled
while being labeled all sorts of vile names
While DeKlerk met with Sharon, the real terrorists
But history gets distorted and Bush dares to celebrate MLKs Birthday
Evedn while adopting the dictums of Sharon, Olmert and Peres
Through wars and propaganda they dictate
with genocide merely a collateral damage to their crusade
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
They emphasize
in all manner of disguise
that we cannot yell,
should not rebel,
above all not question,
their self-declared notion
to steal the land
to cleanse the people
to maximize geography
and minimize demography
to kill and then cry about victims' wrath
the left deludes itself with "suffering on both sides"
the right deludes itself with social Darwinism
while masters argue over their future
silence discussions
relegate those who speak honestly to insignificant positions
promote those who espouse racism to head committees
in our Congress and in greenback-financed Knesset halls
and in peace movements
Tribalistic language merges with libels of hate, violence, and extremism
to tar those who dare to stray from 100% loyalty
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
We heard that language from historians
Red Devil native barbarians
standing in the way of "our manifest destiny"
to "bring them democracy"
or at least to manage those left behind
circling the wagons
buttoning the hearts
shooting the guns
showing no mercy
to those inexplicable native savages
screaming incomprehensible shouts
hurting the delicate ears
conspiring to kill the white civilized
for no apparent reason
so God gave the instructions to feed the machine guns
and load the bombers
and pray to win more
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
For those going to demonstrate to talk about bringing the troops home (now?)
For those who claim Democrats will end the war (HOW?)
For those who support the neocon agenda
or Hamilton-Baker neo-colonial mishmash of propaganda
for those not wanting to talk about "sensitive issues"
like the Israeli lobby
like global warming
like real nuclear proliferation
like our individual responsibility
like the media monopolies
like the lies and distortions
like ongoing genocides
like ethnic cleansing
like decency
For all of those we plead: untill when
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
Their rampages, their racism, their lies and distortions
as obvious as the naked emperor
to millions who do not care to
sell their soul and conscience
for pennies
But many sinking in tar fields of privileges
not learning from history, drugged with traditions
Celebrating Thanksgiving and Hanukkah but forgetting
that ancient stones and distorted history
are manufactured identities killing children
Others are trapped by prostituted imperial language
July and August, "Middle East",
security, war on terrorism
and yes "democracy"
worrying about paying bills
for shopping at sweatshop Wallmarts
Many oblivious to suffering they inflict
by simply paying taxes,
by voting lesser of two evils,
by being consumers not citizens,
and by being afraid,
for their robotic lives,
their comfort levels,
their gods and their mythologies
Deluding themselves that they cannot change
That is ultimately the tragedy of humanity
accepting meritocracy and apathy
accepting racism
A shame on us all
Forgive them for they know not what they do?
Arab Children murdered by bullets made in America
Truth assassinated by professional lies in cowardly media
Viciously attacking a president who is asking a question
Palestine: peace or apartheid? Outrageous notion!
Even as he failed to address apartheid inside
Even when he ignored the 65 villages unrecognized
ignored the 6 million Palestinian refugees
ignored the 250,000 "Present absentees"
ignored Israeli schools segregated
ignored that those advocating democracy means being outlawed
ignored the blatant racism
the fruit of political Zionism
he and a million others are condemned
their good deeds no longer remembered
but they do not understand that being ruthlessly tough
makes more people stand together to demand enough is enough!
So go ahead and escalate and fail
OR Give peace a chance
give peace a chance
--------------------------
Many have chains of (mis)understanding and hateful passion
you have a relentless free spirit with compassion.
Many isolated themselves and think they dare
You showed the way to freely love and care.
Even when others were difficult and strange
You kept your cool and forgave
Even in a noisy old bus shines softness of your body and soul
Hard challenges easily trumped by spirit of caring and a focused goal
Of giving generously
living dangerously
longing
but always acting
What is a miracle but a great mind with a kind heart
even more considering the short years to so exquisitely impart
a strong driven character
yet amazingly tender
How much knowledge an inquisitive soul can relish
without the shackles that so many seem to cherish
Life is laughing at our experience
even mocking our wandering existence
Was the attraction an illusion or due to such improbable character?
Or have we met in a past life ... or destined to meet in another?
Brief encounters sometimes leave us wanting more.
In this case it leaves us with life-changing lore.
Where have you been and what have you done...
Become easy questions when we are left with one...
the ultimate conundrum is why
Why we yearn.. why we desire.. why we work.. why we die
and most of all why we love
and hence why we live!
I have no answers but sometimes wonder
If the trip of discovery is far more important
And far more fun
--------------------------
Happy birthday
8/07
I know some celebrate the day
For me there is no other way
to remember how fate has given me
that gift that without it I cannot imagine what would be
A gift of love, support, and hope
A gift of friendship, fun, and beauty
I, a feeble fellow, sometimes do not say it
sometimes, do not appreciate it
I, a busy chap, sometimes do not do what is right
sometimes, do not even listen or even resist
I, a clumsy guy, depend on your tidiness
sometimes never even repaying the kindness
Excuses abound for a heart distracted
from its love, nay from itself distanced
Yet, you patiently wait and take what comes next
from an unpredictable childish old gent
You kindly forgive my many foolish errands
and gently remind me of what message life sends
That we are mortal
That we must be kind
Take care of each other
In sickness and in health
That we take time to
Smell flowers
Ride donkeys
Touch the sand
Get sun tanned
Cook mansaf
Drink arabic coffee
Live and let live
For all of this
and much, much more
Using words that only dream,
of reflecting the depth of my esteem,
I say happy birthday to you
(a happy and lucky one for me)
and I humbly say I love you
-------------
(inspired by a sign on a mirror asking "what do you see" at a peace house in Portland)
Faces
14 March 2008
As a child we first recognized faces before objects or toys
And we loved all faces.. ALL Faces
But a child's eyes grow some times
and learns to avert from some faces
Those who still really see.. see all faces
Faces that look away and those that engage us
Faces of youth radiant with young love
Faces of old content in holding hands
Faces of a lifelong activists with passion and determination
Faces of anger and fear and yes even racism in people who may or may not feel guilty for their thoughts of tribalism or yes racism
Faces that see the color of the face not its _expression_
I see faces of child angels who have no fear of strangers
Faces of mothers looking at their suckling babies
Faces suffering illness
Faces of students unsure of where to go
and those which light up with new knowledge
Faces contorted with hunger
Faces smiling at new friendships
Faces wet with the tears at the loss of loved ones
Faces weeping at coffins of young shot by those with young faces
Faces of those who claim to be good Christians, good Muslims, Good Jews
While doing unto others what they would not want done unto them
Faces of hate and bigotry
or compassion and understanding
Faces devastated at a home demolished
a family uprooted, a refugee camp
Faces of horror
Faces of despair
Faces of deep love
Faces of those who still see with a child's eyes
and those hardened and cynical
Faces of kindness and mercy
or ignorance and racism
Smiling or laughing
shouting or wailing
All human faces..etched when we look carefully
IN THE MIRROR
and choose
==============
LIFE
4/14/08
As our shift in this transient world parades life by
Some robotic, some mobile, some as miraculous as a fly
from laughing lovers to stern soldiers on their way to kill
singing birds, buzzing mosquitos, and a child in dreams still
those breathing hate, others stopping to smell the flowers
some making love, others bowing in contemplative prayers
what life ventures are meaningful and loving?
and how can we nurture acts inspiring or caring?
how do we face gazes of unrepentant racists and unimaginable bigots?
how do we shun the lies that pierce the heart and avoid TV talking heads?
maybe more importantly, how do we thank those who sacrificed?
and say words of encouragement to those oppressed and yet villified?
how do feel vibes of thoughtful meditation?
or taste elexiers of life in appreciation?
If only we open the eyes to see that a swaying leaf is a miracle
as much as a touch of a friend's caring hand or even an icicle
How many mock father time or trash mother earth?
How many walk humbly with each step a rebirth?
Do we understood the amazing power of initiated positive action
Or spend a rushed day to day, minute to minute in reaction
Community building with enlightened self-interest for human needs
or wasting a life looking for fleeting moments and carnal greeds
When our time comes and we have a few tired moments to reflect
will we smile at a life well lived or will we recognize our own neglect
Love and kindness as the ultimate needs we will discover
and that by giving them we get them, one way or another
============
Living 6/30/09
We will not wait life's bitter or sweet end
we are far to busy setting our own trend
Of life's purpose I am assured
only that it is love and pain ruled
we metamorphose ever changing
seasons and years and longing
war not stronger than kindness
harsh winds not bending strong hearts
destruction and injuries conquered with smiles
racism and bigotry not stronger than love
the biggest revolution not more than a child's innocent laugh
We challenge regrets and bitterness
and nurture compassion and kindness
At the end of dreams, we draw reality
in waking hours grow our humanity
living by loving
loving by living
=================
We are tired but hopeful
July 2009
We are tired of statistics
7 million Palestinian refugees or displaced people
11,000 Palestinian political prisoners
534 Destroyed villages and towns
35% unemployment
450 km of apartheid walls
1.5 million uprooted fruiting trees
5 billion in US aid
Billions in stolen money to fund colonial ventures
We are tired of language
Hafrada-Segregation-Apartheid and Security
Two-states and no state and cantons and autonomy
Jewish state, right to exist, and the “right to defend” racism
diplomacy and the immortal “peace process”
talks about talking and talking about talks
While people die or live like the dead in concentration camps.
In Bethlehem, Gaza, Jericho, Acca, Haifa,…
We are tired of misery
The ranks of the poor getting more
Pollution and damage to all living things
People who abuse others and those who abuse themselves
Drug addicts, alcohol addicts, sex addicts, and psychopaths
Children barefoot in a refugee camp in 2009!
Epidemics and pandemics and exaggeration of those
Far too many needy people and so little each of us can do
We are tired of spies
So many of them come and go, take pictures and pretend they care to gain a trust
So many employed feeding children but starving their souls
Some caught, others abandoned after being used by a relentless racist government
Some spy for a colonial racist regime, others for a collaborative regime
Some repent, some commit suicide, some just die and are forgotten
We are tired of hypocrisy
Those who claim human rights in one place but abuse them in others
Those who speak of International law while funding those who abuse it
Those who smile at you while plunging knives in your back
Those that use a religious heritage to justify
..murder, destruction, and robbing people of their homes and lands
We are tired of collaborators
Those with nice suits and those with guns
Those war criminals and those who hug them
Those who sell their people for a stack of money
Devious and deviant souls troubled and troubling
Profiteers, Presidents, Pundits, and even Peasants
Slaves to the system all in all
We are tired of being tired
Of our body’s limitations
Of the aging of the mind
Of our own chains that we all must break
Of the occasional loss of faith in others
And in ourselves
While we are tired of these things and many more
Good people who are honest and brave
Fellow travelers in the harsh road of life
Philanthropists, protestors, marchers, poets, and musicians
Give us the needed push and help pick-us up when we falter
To be tired is expected and can be endured
If we do not lose hope and fall behind
Or take the wider road open to all who agree
Reject a corrupt system and chose to be free
if you are still on a wrong road,
then it is not too late
Come join us and you will see
Even deepest rests and worst darknesses happen before new dawns
So we wipe the sweat and open our hearts
Hold hands and Choose the road of love
Where living is only the beginning
==================
Of humanity- March 16, 2008
People get shot, Rachel spoke
I am afraid, she wrote
Want to Dance
I can't believe
and so many of her remain
in the world
in her words
in our hearts
But today, with a lump in my throat
what paces in my thought
That strange phrase from a holy book
"they plan but God is the best of planners"
Nervously I ask it to slow down
explain yourself to a refugee spirit
what do you plan for the wretched souls
Why Rachel
Or Hurndall
Why Hiam and Marwa?
Why Faris and Al-Durra?
And who is this divine?
In us all?
Do I learn something on this fifth anniversary
of death of another innocent
Is it misery and pain?
Love and action?
Questions or answers?
Or will all I am left with is that smell of the air of Palestine
and the soil, that soaked soil
that Rachel's last breath took in
to give us the Spring
of our understanding.
==================
Confusion
July 2009
A biologist collecting not specimens but thoughts
trying to keep them together in the net of my dreams
but they scatter in the winds of my confusion
laughing and crying on the way to oblivion
leaving me to ponder if life is hard or sweet
dominated with love or hate
that confusion tightens its grip
but even when it lets go
I am left with silence
And questions
===================
We are angry
Sept 2009
We are angry at rhetoric of oppression
Hafrada-Segregation-Apartheid and Security
Two-states, one state, cantons and autonomy
The chosen state’s right to exist
While colonialism can persist
Addictws now to talk about talking
And hold meetings about more meetings
Maybe to revive the “peace process” charades
to ensure no peace for a few more decades
giving the monster created by Western powers
time to gobble more of the holy pieces
and belch its pleasure in more negotiations
devoid of human rights or UN resolutions
We are angry at statistics of oppression
11,000 political prisoners
534 Destroyed villages and towns
35% seeking stolen jobs
450 km of apartheid walls
7 million displaced or refugees
1.5 million uprooted fruiting trees
1.5 million in Gaza besieged
62 years of justice denied
We are angry at manufactured misery
Epidemics and pandemics
Genocides hidden with polemics
Swelling ranks of the disempowered
Phosphorous bombs on Gaza showered
An apartheid wall that snakes around
Running sewage in the streets abound
Children barefoot in a refugee camp in 2009!
While the unelected leaders repeat the same line
We are angry at spies
Some come take pictures and pretend to care
Others just watch and hope to avoid the glare
Some punished by law or by a guilty conscience
Others abandoned by their racist masters
Some feed stomachs but starve their souls
Others fall for carnal desires as fleeting as the empty goals
Some serving the colonial racist regime
Others think it safer with the quisling theme
Some commit suicide or die forgotten
Others repent and are soon forgiven
We are angry at hypocrisy
Those who claim then need their human right
While not sparing children from their plight
Those who champion International laws
While leaving heavy trails of bloody claws
Those who smile plunging knives in your back
While screaming loudly that they are under attack
Those who use a religious heritage to support overt racism
While defaming anyone who dares to speak out: “anti-semitism”!
We are angry at collaborators
Those with nice suits and those with guns
Those who sell their people for shekels
Those who do it out of ignorance
And those who with malice and malfeasance
Presidents, Pundits, and peasants
Large or small petty criminals
We are angry at being angry
While it may help us break the chains
Yet our love through anger diminishes
And our faith in humanity shrinks
And even what we want for ourselves
So maybe this final anger motivates ….
To shed anger and keep high our heads and spirits
In our world there are many who deserve merits
good, honest, brave activists
Philanthropists, protestors, poets…
men and women of all life stages
tailor-made therapists for all ages
Political Prisoners and Martyrs
Intellectuals and small farmers
Working to plant the blood-soaked lands
With cactus, figs, olive trees, and almonds
watering hopes and dreams like a growing grape vine
tendrils reaching out to free beloved immortal Palestine
========
The year 2009
December
You greeted us with the images of mutilated children and a grieving dad
Sending us shrilled voices of anguished mothers in Rafah and Baghdad
The shivers of the homeless girls whose homes were strafed
Almost making us feel the pangs of hunger of the besieged
Hot air of twisted mouths of those outside speaking
bellicosity "we will make them pay"
idiocy "this is not helpful to the peace process"
mediocracy "send them food"
impotency "we condemn these attacks"
hypocracy "both sides should show restraint"
And when the guns of the murderers fell silent,
silence fell on the mouths of the politicians
And when reports of atrocities were documented
betrayal and manipulations came in droves
Journalists went back to the economic woes
but without explaining links to the wars
The president elected to make change shows no change
Iraq and Afghanistan still occupied to serve those in charge
They told us he might understand because at least he is half black
But the brown skin of children still changes to charred black
With American weapons
paid for by American taxpayers
To serve that invisible hand
========
April 9, 1948 to April 9, 2011: Deir Yassin to Gaza
(by Mazin Qumsiyeh, Written on the way back home, dedicated to Juliano*)
My kind old mother laments
Decades of memory that transcends
Fake Gods and fake peace offers
who bless nichsayon** and slaughter
our eyes fail to see or just lament
blood of a child licked off a pavement
By stray thirsty cats
with more morals than army brats
Our ears fail to hear
voice of Dr. Izzeldinne echoes
“I shall not hate” anguished cries
After three beautiful daughters
With a tank shell and a niece in slaughters
Our noses feail to smell
The whiff of death mixed with gun powder
Or the vomit of our tortured
Our hearts fail to feel
the punctured womb by the old home
the severed girl’s head by the mosque dome
Mutilated,
dismembered,
disconnected
Our fingers fail to touch
an anguished young mother
Looking for a child
Jews, Christian, Muslims wail
The lost humanity to no avail
the generals must have their joy
to test their newest toy
in Gaza white phosphorous back in use yesterday
impunity from war crimes thanks to the US of A
billionairs must make more dollars
zealots must sacrifice children at altars
Gabriel can stay a knife but not drones
And hate can murder a thousand Julianos
While the apathetic multitude watch TV
Obliviously focused on their shopping spree
Bypassing love and responsibility
Chasing gadgets, hate, and vanity
Next news bulletin.... get the experience
Next anniversary..awaken the conscience??
-------------------------------
Patrick willis put my poem into a video with sad music and pictures of Juliano etc. Another person said it should be a rap song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPF_abYH6cg
----------------------
The choice
25 June 2011
Our choice is not between
Israelis vs Palestinians
Afghans vs Americans
Muslims vs Christians
seculars vs religious
collaborators vs rebelious
Our choice crystalizes when facing
A child who lost a leg ..moaning
A mother who lost a son.. grieving
A father jailed. yearning
An uprooted tree.. wilting
A Refugee . longing
in pained eyes, we look or stay away
the balance of where we sway
Between ignorance and compassion
Between love and hateful obsession
Between Justice and repression
Between might makes right
.and right makes might
Children not of "our tribe" wait silently
We must kneel to look at their faces intently
in those dark troubled eyes,
in the fleeting brief smiles
We see our reflection, our bonding
But we need to do the deciding
To find our inner voice
To finally make the choice
For dignified life not criminal apathy
To shun death and gain empathy
To shed paralyzing fears
To taste joyful tears
Now that our hearts get uncovered
Alas.love and humanity are (re)discovered
==========================
Munich, 2012
Neat squares lined with cafes
Subway trains keeping time
Bicycles fence the Clean streets
That lead to the English garden
Where shiny skins absorb the sun
Young lovers kiss
Children frolick
And wrinkled old faces feed pigeons
Perhaps a roma with dark hair
Ebb and flow of memories on the shores of a mind
Of distant past of lost relatives and huddled masses
bombed building and flames
But also of smiles of grandchildren
So we must ready the October fest
And prepare for winter
That is the destiny of all countries
Good and bad history
The music of the army band or of Beethoven
The modern residents inherit all
And they are Germans of all backgrounds,
yes including Turks and Arabs
mixing uneasily
learning perhaps common humanity
and humility
=================
From Deir Yassin to Gaza
My old kind mother laments
Decades of memory that transcends
Fake Gods and fake peace offers
who bless nichsayon and slaughter
our eyes fail to see or just lament
blood of a child licked off a pavement
By a stray thirsty dog
Zionist inevitable end
Our ears fail to hear
voice of Dr. Izzeldinne echoes
“I shall not hate” his anguished cries
After three beautiful daughters
With a tank shell and in a niece in a slaughters
Our noses feail to smell
The whiff of death mixed with gun powder
Or the vomit of our tortured
Our hearts fail to feel
the punctured womb by the old home
the severed girl’s head by the mosque dome
Mutilated,
dismembered,
disconnected
Our fingers fail to touch
The forehead of an anguished young mother
Looking for a child
Jews, Christian, Muslims and others mourn
Their dying humanity
But the generals must have their joy
Testing their newest toy
Billionairs must make more dollars
The zealots must sacrifice children at altars
Gabrield can stop a knife but not F16s or drones
And we, the apathetic multitude watch TV
And go on a shopping spree
Bypassing conscience, love, and responsibility
hording burgers, popcorn hate, and disability
Next news bulletin.. stay tuned .. experience
Until you replace the lost battery in your conscience
====================
POEMS BY OTHERS
The definition of occupation
By Abdelnasser Rashid, April 15, 2006, 11th Grade student, PALESTINE
Occupied, terrorized, genocide
while the whole world is hypnotized,
Sixty years, incessant tears
no day passes by without countless fears
For our lives, our wives, our children cry
yet the world turns away, and our spirits die.
For my land, I do stand
but I remain hopeless without a helping hand,
Oppression, suppression, depression
of every aspect of my life, you've taken possession,
Our weapons are stones, to protect our homes
but your bulldozers win and terror roams,
Yours are tanks, helicopters, and military jeeps
to kill the young man, as his mother weeps,
You control our electricity, you control our seas
you control our streets, and uproot our trees,
You close our schools, our children can't learn
you deny the refugees their right to return,
Suffering orphans, under your persecution
when they rise up, they face execution,
Families are separated, and farmers (merely) recall
the land they lost by your Apartheid Wall,
Through your diplomacy and your foreign relations
you attempt to justify and give credence to your occupations,
Palestine is my land, and I won't let you take it
and while you put the world to sleep, I try to wake it.
===============
Dan Almagor
We shoot Children Too, Don't we
http://www.arabworldbooks.com/arab/weshootchildren.htm
==========
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bow'd my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
==============================
Translation of German Poem by By Günter Grass**
What must be said
Why have I been silent, silent for so long?,
Our generals have gamed it out,
Confident the west will survive.
We people have not even been considered.
What is this right to "preventive war"?
A war that could erase the Iranian people.
Dominated by it's neighbor, pulsing with righteousness
Smug in the fact that it is they, not Iran,
Who have the Bomb.
Why have I so far avoided to identify Israel by it's name?,
Israel and it's ever increasing nuclear arsenal,
Beyond reproach, Uncontrolled, uninspected.
We all know these things
Yet we all remain silent, fearful of being labeled:
anti-Semitic
hateful
worse
Considering Germany's past these labels stick
So we call is "business", "reparation" take your pick,
As we deliver yet another submarine.
As we provide to Israel the means to deliver annihilation.
I say what must be said.
Why did I stay silent until now?
Because I'm German, of course.
I'm tainted by a stain I cannot wash out
I'm silent because I want so badly to make it right
To put my sins in the past and leave them silently there.
Why did I wait to say it until now?
And write these words with the last of my ink?
Declaring that Israel threatens world peace?
Because it is true and it must be said,
Tomorrow will be too late.
We Germans now carry a new burden of sin on our shoulders
Through the weapons we have sold
We are helping to carry out this foreseeable tragedy
No excuse will remove our stain of complicity.
It must be said. I won't be silent
I've had enough of the hypocrisy;
Please shed the silence with me,
The consequences are all too predictable.
It's time to demand free and permanent control
of BOTH Israel's nuclear arsenal
AND Iran's nuclear facilities
enforced with international supervision.
It's the only way, in a land convulsed with insanity,
Israelis, Palestinians, everybody, will survive.
And we too, will survive.
**Günter Wilhelm Grass (born 16 October 1927) is aGerman novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is widely regarded to be Germany's most famous living writer. Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Grass
Listen to the poem on “Youtube”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kFs_-crK30
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