And We Love Life by Marmood Darwish.
And
we love life if we find a way to it
We
dance in between martyrs and raise a minaret for violet and palm trees.
We
love life if we find a way to it.
And
we steal from the silkworm a thread to build a sky and fence in this departure.
We
open the garden gate for the jasmine to step out on the streets as a beautiful
day.
We
love life if we find a way to it.
And
we plant, where we settle, some fast growing plants, and harvest the dead.
We
play the flute like the color of the faraway, sketch over the first corridor a
neigh.
We
write our names one stone at a time, O lightning brighten the night.
We
love life if we find a way to it. . .
(translated
from the Arabic by Fady Joudah)
Copyright 2008 The Nation.
