by Taha Muhammad Ali

And so I come to the place itself,
but the place is not
its dust and stones and open space.
For where are the red-tailed birds
and the almonds’ green?
Where are the bleating lambs
and pomegranates of evening –
the smell of bread
and the grouse?
Where are the windows,
and where is the ease of Amira’s braid?
Where are the quails
and white-footed fettered horses whinnying,
their right leg alone set free?
Where are the wedding
parties of swallows –
the rites and feasts of the olives?
The joy of the branching spikes of wheat?
And where is the crocus’s eyelash?
Where are the fields we played
our games of hide-and-seek in?
And where is Qasim?
Where are the hyssop and thyme?
Where is the kite descending on chicks
from the heaven’s heights,
as the old woman shouts at it:
“You took our speckled hen,
you whore!
I hope you can’t digest it!
You there, in the distance:
I hope you can’t digest it!”

This program was produced for the Newshour with Jim Lehrer.

For more information, visit:
www.pbs.org/newshour

Poets in the Arab world have historically been important cultural figures, and this tradition continues among Palestinians. In the second of his reports on Middle East poetry, Jeffrey Brown discusses poetry’s role in Arab society with three leading Palestinian poets.

This program was produced for the Newshour with Jim Lehrer.

For more information, visit:
www.pbs.org/newshour/