Friday, February 19, 2010

"A country with no passport stamp": Friday's poetry by Mahmoud Darwish



















I Talk too Much

Mahmoud Darwish


I talk too much about the slightest nuance between women and trees,
about the earth's enchantment, about a country with no passport stamp,
I ask: Is it true, good ladies and gentlemen, that the earth of Man, is for all human beings
as you say? In that case where is my little cottage, and where am I?
The conference audiences applaud me for another three minutes,
three minutes of freedom and recognition.
The conference approves our right of return,
like all chickens and horses, to a dream made of stone.
I shake hands with them, one by one. I bow to them. Then I continue my journey
to another country and talk about the difference between a mirage and the rain.
I ask: is it true, good ladies and gentlemen, that the earth of man is for all human beings?

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