By Samah Sabwai I stand Dispossessed No congress behind me No statesmen surround me No lobby to breathe hellfire No media eager to appease No three-ring circus Of intellectual jesters Academic clowns And policy experts Who truly do not see the big elephant in the tent No legal acrobats Dance for me On a thin robe of decency No politicians Juggle oppression And human rights On my behalf No trips to boost careers For MPs and their wives No propaganda movies No radio broadcasts No myths No lies No hasbaranites No army, No country Not even One leader to believe in All I have are my words To tell my story My voice To demand justice But you tell me My language is too strong You my friend My perfect the skill of delusion The talent of denial You may express Regret and lament And cry tears of indignation And insist You’re on my side But without naming the crime they commit Without naming ‘Ehnic Cleansing’ and ‘apartheid’ Your words ring hallow So I will hold on to my words I use them sparingly I utter one word And a house is resurrected From memory On a hill in Palestine I utter another … and I am in a courtyard under a sycamore tree And another And the scent of Jasmine fills the air Words lift me up from despair And take me home Words disarm tyrants Bring down empires And reveal All the oppressors wish to conceal Humanity! I stand dispossessed Of everything But my words They are words of truth Of fire and steel I use them deliberately Not to incite hatred Not to frighten But to light up this darkness That tore me into 11 million pieces And scattered me Across the earth Words tell my story Nakba Naksa Forced exile Ethnic cleansing Apartheid Words Carefully chosen Purposely uttered These are the words That lay the foundation Of the language of liberation. - Samah Sabawi is a Palestinian writer and poet. She contributed this poem to PalestineChronicle. Related posts: Words! – A Poem Jerusalem: Words! Words! Words! Searching for Words – Poems No Words Left – Poems Samah Jabr: Stop another Nakba against Palestinians youtube/watch?v=5rfnHYF2lmM
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 08:04:44 +0000
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