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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Ever Reaching... a series of poems concerning Palestine by Anne Selden Annab

2002
Ever Reaching... Al Nakba, 53 years
A series of poems by Anne Selden Annab
Commemorating the Palestinians and their 53 years of suffering [as of 2011 it is now 63 years] and their never ending struggle to live and prosper, despite the horrific and demoralizing circumstances under which they must live.
     Ever Reaching...  Al Nakba-
53 Years

In Israel- ever reaching
the land lays fallow
weeds of concrete blocks
and bitter minds
displace the fragrant herbs.

Cities rise
full of excuses
for all they're not.

In Israel- ever reaching
a child's ethnicity
determines
education
or lack there of.

In Israel- ever reaching
borders are but another
war to rage

another zone
to raze

another village
remapped
renamed
refilled

with foreign eyes
who have never seen
the beauty of the hills.


********


Eyewitnesses.... Al Nakba-
53 years

Eyewitnesses
still live,
looking on

as lush lawns
are layered over
a land once grazed
by woolly lambs
and scampering
goats

A land once
fragrant
with stories
and laughter,
bubbling
and flowing
like water in a brook.

Generation to generation
shifting and blooming
like spring flowers
bursting forth
every where
and every one

knew of a cousin nearby
falling deeply in love
or cooking
or sewing
or tending to an orchard
of ancient olive trees.


*********



Black Flags... Al Nakba
53 Years

Black flags
flap and flutter

and dance on the desert breeze

all the wounds
and the deaths
and imprisonments

all the homes lost
and sons destroyed
and daughters maimed

All the dark reflections
of storm clouds
collecting in a well

and all the inked shadows
of a moonless night
that swirl
in the splash
and sweet draught
of cupped water
splashed on thirsty lips:

All the hope
that these dark dark memories

will be answered by justice-
The truth kept safe
by a mother's constant love.


**************

Blood to Ink... Al- Nakba
53 years

Luscious gardens are grown
from a trickle of water
and a handful of seeds:

Papyrus grows tall
full of wild birds
eared owls and egrets
and insects
and fish. Time passes.
Things change

Vellum is carefully scraped
worked with berries and ore

Words lovingly copied
even as

Trees turn to paper

blood to ink

And the paper
is painstakingly
stained

with
the cherished
names
of Palestinian
villages

depopulated by gunpoint in 1948.


*****************



A Mother's Hand... Al Nakba
53 Years

Bless all those
who love
and linger in their love

A mother's hand
on a child's heart

gently, ever so gently,
reminding her child
of his sacred place

in the hearts of all.

Bless all those
who know and understand

and keep safe

every child

of any age

and race.



poem & photo copyright ©2002 Anne Selden Annab

1 comment:

  1. first published April/May 2002, page 10 in the newsletter Northwest Ethnic Voices, Salem OR

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