Poetry
Mahmoud Darwish was born in 1941 in the village of Al Birwa in Northern Palestine. As a child, Darwish had experienced exile from Palestine, resettlement as a refugee and internal displacement upon his return to Palestine. After a performance of the poem ‘Identity Card’ in a Nazareth movie house, his…
A Tap on the Roof The warning scud skirts the roof 58 seconds to run 58 seconds to run 58 seconds to run Slah Nuwasrah gathers his nephews Nidal wide-eyed Muhammad screams in his cot The pregnant wife frozen to her bed Corner of the quilt chewed wet by clamped…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R77HOWTPzxU We will be angry (after Gaza 2014) Take my land give it a new name say it was yours before let me have a small part call it a “territory”. I will be angry. In my territory let new people come, your people, from all over, let them find…
Thirst fugue after “Todesfuge” by Paul Celan They hold the land in the dust of our houses as dusk falls they bring out ancestral maps and command that we follow their lines on the land they command that we wait at their checkpoints they heft our worth in the steel…
And the winners for this year’s Palestine Verses are: 1st Place: Hafsah Aneela Bashir – A Tap on the Roof 2nd Place: John Ling – We will be angry 3rd Place: Barbara Cumbers – Thirst Fugue We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who submitted poems: we…