i am from there

I AM FROM THERE

I come from there and I remember,
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows

I have brothers, friends
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by seagulls
I have my own view
And an extra blade of grass

Mine is the moon at the far edge of words
And the bounty of birds
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before swords turned bodies into banquets.
I come from there

I render the sky unto her mother, when the sky weeps for her mother
And I weep for a returning cloud to know me
I learned the words worthy of the court of blood so that I could break the rule
I learned and dismantled all the words to construct a single one:

Home

Mahmoud Darwish

photo by Rosanna Salonia