Longing For (Translated from Arabic)

 

I long for Jerusalem

Jaffa and Hebron.

And pale eyes with tears flow

And seas of thorns

Stand between my ailing homeland and me

All kinds of snakes nested in his guts,

And washing dirt

Traveling from the stomachs of Jackals.

Crying tears walking on my eyeballs

For years, have been flying on passports.

Tormented between groans of the past

And among the mazes of the present, I am a prisoner.

Reem gets closer to me, with its small fingers

She wipes tears with her innocent smile

She calls me in mother's tenderness

Do not cry, Father, victory is within my bones

Flowing like a rivulet

I see green flags

On the outskirts of Jerusalem flying

Waiting for the knights of Ahmed

Carried by the ‘Ababil’ birds

And branches covered with ash and rocket

Uprooted by the hands of jackals with pickaxes

And their tanks still flatten butterflies

Then dump their bodies into sewers

But were unable to eradicate

Wills that follow Saladin’s footsteps

Don’t cry, Father

I smell the breeze of Nitraria

Predicting the departure of ‘Banu Qurayza’ and ‘Nadir’

My greetings, Father,

To the incarcerated Aqsa Mosque

 

Mimoun Zeggai

Oujda 1/5/2014

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