"Passing words"
by Mahmoud Darweesh

The sword is yours
And the blood is ours.
The steel and fire is yours
And the flesh is ours.

Another tank from you
And a stone from us.
From you a tear gas bomb
And the rain is ours

Both of us share the same air
and the same sky over our heads,
So you can take your share of our blood
And leave.

And we must live the way we choose.

Like the bitter dust, pass wherever you wish
but it is time for you to leave.

And take as many photographs as you like
In order to know that you will never know
How a stone from our land
Can build the roof of the sky.

Relinquish our land, our wilderness, and our sea.
Leave our wheat, our salt, and our injury
And separate from everything which is ours.


It's time for you to leave.

SEPTEMBER 1996 MARTYRS' MEMORIAL HOMEPAGE