From Ask me about Distance by Ali al-Khalili

Ask me about the distance from Haifa to Jaffa,
Then I'll guide you to the straight line
you, the fragments,
you, the remains,
we'll go ahead or continue asking our questions
From Jericho to Tatwan.

From An Elegy by Abd al-Latif 'Aql
(for the soul of Muin Bessisso)

They let him die
They let him commit suicide,
His heart was not washed with the sounds of Khan Yunis
Nor was he given a cup of Gaza dates' juice
He died and left his blood on their hands

He died not in siege,
He danced amongst the bombs
and wrote terrible poems about oil and carriers,
Therefore, the sea blazed in love just like the
childrens' eyes.

He died not in Southern Lebanon,
he got dressed in neat white paper,
Snows awoke him
He became crystal emidst London's night.

* from Izzat Ghazzawi, ed., Modern Palestinian Poetry in Translation (Jerusalem: The Palestinian Writers' Union, 1997).