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Two awe-inspiring poems by child poet Nagham Sami El-Yaziji
(her names means Tune)
Translation (by Nahida Exiled)
Peace be with you, mercy and blessings
I am poet Nagham Sami El-Yazji
From Gaza,
But my native city is Yaffa
God willing, we will return to Yaffa
* * *
First poem (recited in Palestinian dialect)
I am eight
EIGHT years of bombing and destruction,
Fear and dispossession
I survived three wars
THREE wars
Each is more horrific than the previous
* * *
Is there a little girl, in this entire universe
who ever lived three wars, in such a brief age?
I was asleep, in the arms of mama and baba
Safe, tranquil and serene
Suddenly, they bombed our home
Our home is destroyed
My family were martyred
Mama died
Baba died
* * *
At night, who will embrace me when I hear the bombing?
Who will buy me Ramadan’s lantern?
Who will buy me Eid clothes?
* * *
I don’t want anything from you
I don’t want food, clothes or toys
All I want is safety, tranquility and peace
I want my family
I want my home, my beautiful memories
I want to sleep in serenity, wake up in serenity and play free
O world
O WORLD
Is that too much to ask?
Is that too much for me, a Palestinian child, to ask?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nagham reads her second poem in Classical arabic
I am Naghamu
I am a child
The nectar of my dreams infuses my lungs with life
Love runs in my veins
I embroider my tears in my heart
A dress of sorrow
Swathing me with light of dawn
I am a child
I am Naghamu
* * *
People say, my name is a tune
People say, I am a song, soft and delightful
They didn’t know that phosphorus bombs have ignited our calm nights
They didn’t know that the bombing has created my first revolution
The revolution of my exiled father
The revolution of my childless grandmother
The revolution of our budding childhood
The revolution of our traumatised home
The revolution of our usurped neighbourhood
The revolution of our parched blood
* * *
What is my name?
What is the meaning of my name?
The relevance of my name?
When a nightmare is crushing my lungs
Without food, without a home, without a name
Without hope, without love, without a dream
* * *
What is my sin?
What is my sin? answer me
I, what did I… do?
What did I do?
* * *
Did I commit a crime for loving this universe, O mama?
Is my crime that I fell in love with this universe for a moment, mama?
I don’t adore it any more
How can I adore it without mama, without Muna, without Huda, without Rami?
I am Naghamu
Filed under: poems for Palestine | Tagged: children, love, Palestine, war | 1 Comment »
Poetry for Palestine 